Video: Burnley v Leeds United - Whites aim to highlight duo's '˜wrong choice', says Dallas

LEEDS UNITED winger Stuart Dallas believes tonight's trip to Burnley offers an opportunity to prove to Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor that the duo made a mistake by quitting the Yorkshire club.
Leeds United's Stuart Dallas pictured taking on Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).Leeds United's Stuart Dallas pictured taking on Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).
Leeds United's Stuart Dallas pictured taking on Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

The Clarets swooped to sign United’s 27-goal top scorer from last season for £15m towards the end of the summer transfer window, just a few weeks after spending £5m on wantaway left-back Taylor.

Clarets manager Sean Dyche will make a late call on whether to start Wood, but Taylor, whose only previous outing for the Premier League side came in the Carabao Cup triumph over Blackburn Rovers, seems certain to face his former club.

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Asked about the former Leeds pair’s decision to swap Elland Road for Turf Moor, Dallas said “That is football, players come and go.

“It will be good to come up against them. I am sure it will give us extra motivation, as it will do for them as well. They will want to get one over on us.

“We have got to show them that, although they left here and they have gone to the Premier League, maybe they made the wrong choice.”

Wood has made an immediate impact as Burnley’s record signing, netting twice in his first three outings for the Lancashire club.

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Until Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Millwall, Leeds had made light of losing their one-time talisman with 16 goals having flowed in the first five games that followed Wood’s big-money departure.

Samuel Saiz leads the scoring charts with six, one ahead of Kemar Roofe with Kalvin Phillips also having bagged three goals and Pierre-Michel Lasogga netting a brace on debut.

It is a very different story from last season, when the over-reliance on Wood was illustrated by the Kiwi finishing 21 league goals ahead of nearest challengers Pablo Hernandez, Kyle Bartley and Souleymane Doukara.

“We were disappointed he left, but there is more to life than Chris Wood,” said Dallas, who has already matched his league goal tally of two for the entire 2016-17 campaign in just 159 minutes from the bench this time around.

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“I don’t mean that in a bad way, just that the players we have brought in are more than capable (of scoring goals).

“Woody was a big player for us, but Pierre has come in and got goals on his debut. This year, we are getting goals from all over the place whereas last year we depended a lot on Woody.

“He did well for us, and probably carried us in games. But now, more players are chipping in and that can only be a good thing.”

Dallas and Wood arrived at Elland Road within a month of each other during the summer of 2015, and the Northern Irishman admits to being sad to see the Kiwi leave last month.

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“I don’t need to explain how good Woody is,” added Dallas. “If you give him a chance, he will hurt you.

“He is a good lad and still a good friend, but when we step over the line, whether he is playing or not, we are enemies for the night.

“It is up to him why he wanted to leave. He saw the opportunity to go and play in the Premier League, albeit with a different club. We have all got different visions.

“He saw the chance to go and he took it. If you go, you are nothing more to us and we get on with it.”

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Saturday’s defeat at The Den was not enough to knock Thomas Christiansen’s men off the summit of the Championship, but Dallas insists a response to such a lacklustre performance is required tonight.

“From start to finish they were the better team,” added Dallas. “But the good thing is we have a chance to put things right within just a few days. We are ready to go again.”

Dallas, fresh from signing a new three-year contract, is set to make what will be only his third start of the season.

All of those have came in the Cup, which is something of a surprise considering the impressive form the Northern Ireland international has displayed under Christiansen and the goals he scored in the victories over Sunderland and Birmingham City.

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He added: “Coming into the new season, I was probably fighting for my Leeds future. I was out of contract and it is something you think about. We are only human and want to know what the future holds.

“I needed to do something and thankfully I did and have now signed a new deal. This is where I wanted to be all along, I never wanted to leave.”

Asked if United fans were now seeing his best form since joining from Brentford in a £1.3m deal, Dallas replied: “It is probably fair to say that.

“I am a lot more confident. I have said it before, last year wasn’t good enough for my standards. There were a number of reasons and I could use them as an excuse, but I am not that type of player.”

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Pontus Jansson misses the trip to Turf Moor with a hamstring injury sustained at Millwall, leaving Christiansen’s resources at the back stretched due to Liam Cooper and Matthew Pennington also likely to be unavailable.

Last six games: Burnley WLWDWD Leeds United DWWWWL.

Referee: D Bond (Lancashire).

Last time: Burnley 1 Leeds United 0; April 9, 2016; Championship.