Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough was left in awe as Leeds United star Stuart Dallas defied an injury to play on during their Euro qualification heartbreak on Thursday, while speaking to the BBC.
Given that Dallas is pretty much Marcelo Bielsa’s go-to man for almost every single position these days, any suggestion that he faces a spell on the sidelines will send shivers down the spine of everyone in West Yorkshire.
The former Brentford star suffered an arm problem with about half an hour on the clock in last night’s 2-1 defeat to Slovakia.
But it is a credit to his never-say-die attitude that Dallas was still flying down the right-hand side, desperately trying to force an equaliser, well past the 90-minute mark.
“We don’t know if Stuart Dallas has done something bad to his arm but he just wouldn’t give up,” said a proud if understandably disappointed Baraclough.
A pair of rare Jonny Evans errors eventually cost Northern Ireland dear on a night when neighbours Scotland qualified for a major tournament for the first time this century.
Michal Duris netted the winner with 110 minutes on the clock after the ball rebounded off the unfortunate Leicester City star.
To make matters worse, Kyle Lafferty hit the post with a rasping drive late in normal time. ‘What might have been’ indeed.
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