The Whites winger has been called up to Northern Ireland duty for their Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Leeds United winger Stuart Dallas has spoken out about his lack of recent game time at the Championship club, claiming it shouldn’t affect him on Northern Ireland duty as he feels “fitter now” more than he has ever been.
The 27-year-old has made 20 Championship appearances for the Whites this season but has only made Marcelo Bielsa’s starting XI eight times, mostly around October and November before being sidelined with a fractured foot (Transfermarkt).
Since coming back in February, Dallas has only featured sporadically for Leeds, but was nonetheless called up by Michael O’Neill for their Euro 2020 Group C qualifiers against Estonia and Belarus, both at Windsor Park.
Despite admitting that his lack of game time is “not ideal” when it comes to featuring for his nation, Dallas praised Leeds for having done “as much as they can” for him, also saying he has got game time in the reserves, and doesn’t feel his lack of senior minutes will be an issue.
“It’s not ideal if you’re coming away here and… you’re not playing at club level, but it’s up to yourself to keep yourself fit,” he told BBC Sport. “The club will do as much as they can for you and I can only speak for myself and my situation at Leeds, if you’re not playing on a saturday you’re playing for the reserves so you’re getting game time there.
“I perhaps haven’t played as much in previous weeks as I would have liked, it hasn’t been helped by the injury I picked up at the start of December, but I am fit probably fitter now more than I’ve ever been, I kept myself in good condition when I was out injured.”
Since joining the Elland Road outfit from Brentford in 2015, Dallas has made 137 appearances, scoring 11 goals and registering 12 assists, according to Transfermarkt.
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