Leeds United: Northern Ireland boss reveals Stuart Dallas international break possibility after Whites training

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill is considering bringing Leeds United man Stuart Dallas into the fold for the upcoming international break after revealing progress has been made in the player's comeback from injury. The Northern Ireland international suffered a femoral fracture in a 4-0 loss to Manchester City at the end of April 2022 as the Whites went on to secure Premier League survival.

He missed the entirety of last season as he continued his rehabilitation from the horror injury and has yet to feature this term. He has been back in training with the Whites since September but given the severity of his injury no return date has been set for the player. Dallas will not feature for Northern Ireland as they face Finland and Denmark in their final two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers. The Green and White Army have won just two of their eight games in Group H, both against San Marino, and can only finish as high as fourth with their qualification hopes over.

Despite Dallas being unavailable for action, O'Neill says he will discuss the possibility with Leeds of bringing the player over to Belfast to participate in some training sessions. Veteran midfielder Steven Davis could also join up with the squad despite being unavailable through injury.

"To be fair I think Stuart has had some progress in terms of where he is at. He has been training back with Leeds but has had to step back a couple of times from that," said O'Neill.

"I had a conversation with him about possibly coming in to join up with the squad for a day or two next week. That is something that maybe the medical team with ourselves and the medical team at Leeds will discuss. Obviously their main priority is to ensure that the care is there for him as well. It would be nice just to see him around again. Steven the same, he plans I think to possibly come over for the Denmark game.

"I think it would give everyone a lift just to see the two lads back. We have talked about Stuart's injury many times and how complex it is. So I think the players themselves would get a benefit out of it, you know, a change of scenery and a change of the group of players. How much benefit there would be for them in terms of their recovery is debatable, but certainly from having them around, and for the mental side of it for the players, I think it would be very good."