Phil Hay shares what specialist knee surgeon told him about Leeds United-Stuart Dallas injury
Phil Hay has spoken with a specialist knee surgeon about Leeds United star Stuart Dallas and his broken femur injury.
Jamie Arbuthnot admitted that Dallas will need to be automatically wary of damage to his ligaments on top of the fracture.
The specialist insisted it depends on how close the fracture is to the knee as to how severe the ligament damage could be.
Sharing in his latest piece for The Athletic, Hay dropped what the surgeon had told him about the healing process.
“Jamie Arbuthnot, a specialist knee surgeon who provides services for Aston Villa, says his first concern as Grealish’s left knee struck Dallas’ right was the effect on Dallas’ ligaments,” he wrote.
“He’s got his foot planted when it happens, so the ligaments are what you’d automatically be wary about,” Arbuthnot says.
“But a lot will depend on exactly where the femoral fracture is and how close it is to the knee itself — whether it’s low down the bone and going into the joint, or whether it’s mid-shaft. That will dictate exactly what they’re looking at.”
Huge blow.
If you could likely pick one player for this not to happen to in this squad outside of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, it would be Dallas.
The utility man has become such a weapon for the Whites over the past three or four years with his versatility a blessing at times.
Now, it looks as though we could be without him for up to a year if things are that bad, with the initial fracture and then ligament damage to recover from.
You are looking at two serious different injuries that keep players out for months alone, so together, it is awful.
Dallas plays on the edge and isn’t afraid of any collision, so 10 times out of 10, he would likely go for that challenge with Jack Grealish again.
Now it is up to Jesse Marsch to find a way of clicking without Dallas, with this no doubt going to eat into most of next season too.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are leading the race to complete a major signing and have already opened talks to seal a £25m deal