Leeds United v Manchester United: Stuart Dallas ‘not written off’ by Whites for Premier League showdown at Elland Road

Leeds United are hoping Stuart Dallas’s run of 66 consecutive league appearances is not about to come to an end.

The versatile Northern Ireland international has not missed a league game since the Whites were at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship in July 2020, but came off in the first 10 minutes of the 3-0 defeat to Everton with an injury.

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And whilst Dallas’s involvement is far from guaranteed, coach Marcelo Bielsa said yesterday morning he has not given up on the idea of him lining up in tomorrow’s game at home to Manchester United.

KEY MAN: Leeds United's Stuart Dallas Picture: Bruce RollinsonKEY MAN: Leeds United's Stuart Dallas Picture: Bruce Rollinson
KEY MAN: Leeds United's Stuart Dallas Picture: Bruce Rollinson
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“Dallas is recovering, he hasn’t been written off from Sunday’s game,” said the coach.

The match will be the first Premier League game between the trans-Pennine rivals in front of fans at Elland Road since October 2003.

The hope is that Leeds’s only specialist left-back, Junior Firpo, may be fit to play after a hamstring injury but if not Dallas’s involvement will be even more important with Leo Fuhr Hjelde facing a minimum of three weeks out and the possibility of surgery on the knee problem he suffered at Goodison Park.

The 18-year-old centre-back has only made two Premier League appearances, both as a substitute left-back.

Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa.   Picture Bruce RollinsonLeeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa.   Picture Bruce Rollinson
Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Picture Bruce Rollinson
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“If the process in the next three weeks is effective, he will be available in that time,” said Bielsa. “But he may not recover in those 20 days, which would result in him having to have surgery.”

With Patrick Bamford continuing to feel discomfort from the hamstring injury suffered on his comeback from an ankle problem in December, Bielsa again has a decision to make over who plays up front.

Former Manchester United winger Dan James has been the regular stand-in, but Joe Gelhardt and Tyler Roberts are alternatives.

Gelhardt is something of a cause celebre on the Elland Road terraces, where supporters are excited to see more of a 19-year-old who has made two starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League, scoring once.

Stuart Dallas, right, and Adam Forshaw 
pictured before last week's defeat to Everton at Goodison Park. Picture Bruce RollinsonStuart Dallas, right, and Adam Forshaw 
pictured before last week's defeat to Everton at Goodison Park. Picture Bruce Rollinson
Stuart Dallas, right, and Adam Forshaw pictured before last week's defeat to Everton at Goodison Park. Picture Bruce Rollinson
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Bielsa, though, has tended to put Wales international Roberts above him in the pecking order, despite a disappointing Premier League return of just two goals in 21 starts and 27 appearances from the bench. It has made him something of a whipping boy at times.

Bielsa is loathe to criticise the Leeds supporters for that, and certainly believes they have a right to their opinion, but feels the 23-year-old is suffering the same scepticism some of his attacking team-mates have been through at different stages of their Elland Road careers.

“I see the same things that the fans do,” said Bielsa. “I think what they ask of him is always justified, what they are claiming is based on evaluating the player that plays.

“If the assessment is not positive, they demand another option. That happened with Bamford, that happened with James, with Rodrigo and now with Tyler.

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“I am always subject to external evaluation and I am always self-critical but evidently it is not sufficient and it is necessary that I take on more responsibility than I did before. I can’t imagine how.”

On James, who Leeds paid £25m to bring from Old Trafford, Bielsa said: “Like the team, he has had some good moments and some not so good. There were three games where irrespective of the results the team showed a good level and in the last game (at Everton) that level dropped.”

Beyond Leeds’s results, which have put them six points and two places above the relegation zone, the other concern at Elland Road is over whether Bielsa will still be coach next season.

The Argentinian works on the basis of year-to-year contracts usually only renewed late in pre-season. To have clarity earlier would be a huge help, but the 66-year-old was not in the mood to reassure anyone yesterday, saying only: “It’s not a subject we should talk about at this moment.”

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Meanwhile, Leeds’s Premier League home game with Aston Villa will now be played on a Thursday night. Originally scheduled for Christmas week, only to be postponed because of Covid-19 cases in the Whites squad, it will now kick off at 7.45pm on March 10 and will be shown live on Amazon Prime.
As a result, Norwich City will visit on March 13.

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