Leeds United hero Stuart Dallas' injury hope addressed by Michael O’Neill after welcome camp visit

Dallas has not played for club or country since April 30 last year when he fractured his femur in a horror-collision with Manchester City’s Jack Grealish. The Whites promotion hero has had a number of surgeries since and although Jesse Marsch said last October that he hoped to have Dallas back on the pitch in December or January, he is yet to return to action.

O’Neill revealed at the weekend, ahead of Northern Ireland’s home defeat by Finland that Dallas had initially been targetting the March 26 Euro qualifier, but even a June 19 return for the Kazakhstan clash at Windsor Park is no given at this stage.

“Stuart has maybe got an outside chance,” said O’Neill.

"I’m not relying on that. I know Stuart is desperate to be involved and he was desperate to be involved in this game, maybe unrealistically and he maybe pushed himself to his own detriment a little bit. But, look, the medical team we have here is top class and the communication with the clubs is excellent, which is very important. The clubs appreciate how we treat the players when they come away. We’ll just have to see how Stuart is at that point in time.”

O’Neill welcomed both Dallas and his fellow Northern Ireland veteran Steven Davis into the national team camp last week, believing their presence to be beneficial for the squad’s youngsters. Davis is currently out recovering from surgery on a season-ending knee injury.

“It’s brilliant for Steven and Stuart to be here,” he said.

“ They add a lot. We've got a lot of younger players in the squad and for them to see Steven Davis and Stuart Dallas about the place, it can only be a positive. I think it's good for the medical team to see where they are and it's a bit of a change for the players as well. When you've got long-term injuries, their clubs are brilliant but sometimes you need a change of scenery and they've had that the last couple of days.”