Stuart Dallas injury has become a surprisingly big blow for Leeds

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Leeds United fans will be desperately hoping that Stuart Dallas’ injury is not serious.

If there was one negative to emerge from the 1-0 victory over Brentford that sent Leeds back to the top of the Championship, it is clearly that Stuart Dallas limped off during the latter stages of the win with an injury.

Worryingly for the Elland Road faithful, Marcelo Bielsa suggested in his post-match press conference that he is not sure how serious the problem is but did confirm that the Northern Ireland international was injured (via Leeds Live).

It does appear to be a positive sign that he walked away from the pitch himself, but Leeds supporters know all too well how wrong assumptions about the severity of injuries can prove to be. Barry Douglas remarkably played on after rupturing his medial ligament in the 3-2 win over Millwall last season, so the fans were understandably stunned when it was confirmed that he would miss the rest of the campaign.

One thing that is for certain however, is that the concern for Dallas has further highlighted just how substantial the transformation he has enjoyed in recent months has been.

It has been easy to forget that Dallas has been playing out of position, filling in for Luke Ayling at right-back. Defensively, he has done his job with little fuss and he is providing the same kind of energy that left fans expecting to see Ayling appear in the final third, either offering an option on the overlap, or cutting inside to cross the ball in from just outside the penalty area.

Ayling immediately returning to the team upon his own return from injury was certainly not a given thanks to Dallas’ form.

So it is little surprise that the fans are keeping everything crossed that Dallas is not seriously hurt and can perhaps make a swift return to the side.

It certainly says a lot about how good Dallas has been that even with the introduction of a natural right-back in Gaetano Berardi, plenty of Leeds fans felt that they were much worse off no longer having the 28-year-old on the pitch.