Stuart Dallas to Miss Northern Ireland Euro 2024 Qualifiers
Stuart Dallas will not be available for Northern Ireland in their Euro 2024 qualifiers in September. The Leeds United utility player has been out of action since breaking his leg in April 2022.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill had previously said that Dallas had an outside chance of returning for the qualifiers in June, but he confirmed on Monday that the 32 year old is still not fit enough to play. O’Neill also said that captain Steven Davis and Corry Evans will both remain out due to injury, with Davis still recovering from an ACL injury suffered in December 2022 and Evans still some way off from returning after sustaining cruciate ligament damage in January.
Northern Ireland are away to Slovenia on 7 September and away to Kazakhstan three days later, with three points from four games so far in Group H and fifth in the table after beating San Marino in their opener before losing 1-0 to Finland, Denmark and Kazakhstan.
O’Neill was speaking at Windsor Park in Belfast for the unveiling of Tommy Wright and Gareth McAuley, two former NI internationals, as managers of the country’s Under 21 and Under 19 sides respectively. He was also asked about experienced defender Jonny Evans, who signed a short-term deal at Manchester United last month to play for the Premier League Club during pre-season:
“I was delighted to see Jonny, obviously, with the situation at Manchester United. I know it is still – on a longer-term basis – not resolved at this moment in time.”
It is a blow for Northern Ireland to be missing some of their key players for the upcoming qualifiers, but O’Neill will be hoping that they can still put in a strong performance and get the results they need to progress in the tournament. With a number of young players coming through the ranks, there is plenty of potential for the team to make an impact in Euro 2024 and beyond.