One year after ‘not ideal’ comments Stuart Dallas has proven his Leeds United loyalty

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What a difference a year makes. Indeed, that is the case for Leeds United player Stuart Dallas.

A year ago, the Northern Irishman was involved in something of a stir regarding comments he made about his playing time. 

The utility man was on international duty and spoke to BBC Sport about what was a recent run out of the Leeds United first-team picture. 

“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.

“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.”

The comments were run by The Express, who, at the time, suggested Dallas was ‘unhappy’ under Marcelo Bielsa. 

It certainly annoyed Dallas, who quickly rebuffed claims he was not happy at Elland Road. 

At the time, Dallas was struggling to play regularly for Leeds. As he said though, there was a reason for that. He broke a bone in his foot in December and had only made his comeback from the injury a month earlier. Given Bielsa’s method of easing players back into action, it was no surprise Dallas had only been sporadically used at the time. 

By the end of the season, he was a regular at left-back for Leeds and even scored twice in the play-off semi-final defeat to Derby County at Elland Road. 

That form has since continued into the new campaign. Dallas has been sensational for Leeds this season, whether asked to play right-back, centre-midfield on the wing or, most recently, as a left-back. 

With no injuries halting his progress Dallas has shown just how highly thought of he is by Bielsa and how happy he is to be a part of the Leeds United team.