Stuart Dallas situation to 'come to a head' as Michael O'Neill explains concern for Leeds United man

Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill expects Stuart Dallas' injury situation to 'come to a head' at some point as he approaches the two-year anniversary of his last outing. Dallas hasn't played a game of football since fracturing his femur while playing for Leeds United in a Premier League clash against Manchester City in April 2022.

The utility man has been working his way back to full fitness ever since and has gone under the knife on several occasions over the last two years. However, he is yet to make a complete recovery and remains sidelined, despite spending some time out on the Thorp Arch grass with his teammates in training.

Leeds continue to treat Dallas with caution and a return date remains unclear at this point. Of course, he will be doing all he can to make a return to action sooner rather than later, but it remains to be seen if he will be able to feature before the end of the current season.

As such, that makes him a huge doubt for this summer's Northern Ireland internationals with his last outing for his country coming in March 2022 in a friendly against Hungary. O'Neill is in regular contact with the 32-year-old and he would obviously love to be able to call on his services in the not too distant future. However, he has outlined his fear for the Leeds man after spending such a period of time on the sidelines.

"I think there is always a concern," O'Neill said, as per the Belfast Telegraph. "Stuart’s injury is well documented. He is almost two years out at this point so in the modern era that is a huge chunk of football to miss. There’s constant dialogue between Stuart and myself and the medical team. His decision will obviously come to a head.”

Dallas is coming to the end of his contract at Elland Road this summer and Leeds will be forced into making a difficult call, one way or the other, on his immediate future.