Stuart Dallas update on Leeds United first-team return emerges from injury expert
Stuart Dallas could be ready to return to the Leeds United first team in as little as a month’s time, according to injury expert Ben Dinnery.
The Northern Irishman has been out since fracturing his femur on 30 April against Manchester City last season, contributing to a major gap at left-back above all.
Junior Firpo has also been injured multiple times and has seen Pascal Struijk take his place at the position, but after Dallas was taken on the Spain tour during the World Cup break despite being unable to train yet, he is nearing a return according to Dinnery who runs the Premier Injuries database.
Dinnery told GIVEMESPORT: “The end of December, maybe coming into early 2023 is realistic for a Dallas return.
“It could be that he makes some appearances for the U21 side first, to try and transition from training into eventually moving back into the first team.”
Crying out for
Utility man Dallas played in virtually every Whites game for so long for a reason, because he provided the invaluable function of plugging multiple gaps when they came up.
At Leeds United there is always a new one around the corner, and in his absence both full-back spots have been iffy.
Struijk was forced into becoming a full-time left-back with the unavailable and out of form Firpo the only specialist in the squad, and Rasmus Kristensen struggled to adapt to the Premier League for much of the season while Luke Ayling was missing on the other side.
After so long out it will surely take at least one outing for the under-21s before he is ready for a first-team squad, and even then it would likely only be substitute appearances off the bench for a while.
But his return would be a significant boost given his industrious style of play, when the main issues affecting Jesse Marsch’s line-up at the moment are further back.
So durable for so long before suffering a major injury there might be some concerns that the 31-year-old could struggle to regain his previous level of play, but answers on the much-missed man now look to be as little as a month away.
In other Leeds United news, a contract update on Jack Harrison has now emerged amid Newcastle still loitering with interest.