Marcelo Bielsa has revealed he is “very thankful” for the courage of Stuart Dallas as he played through the pain barrier for Leeds United in their 1-1 draw against Brentford.
Dallas, 27, was named in the starting XI in a Championship match for the first time this season as United came from a goal down to secure a share of the spoils against their promotion rivals.
Bielsa has explained that Dallas played with an injury that would have prevented most players from taking to the pitch at Elland Road on Saturday.
“I would like to underline the behaviour of Dallas because in the training session of yesterday day he hurt himself in one of the oblique muscles and very few players suffering from such an injury assume the fact of playing a game,” Bielsa said, as quoted by Leeds Live.
“So I’m very thankful for his physical courage and the implication of the decision he took.”
OPINION
Credit to Dallas, for refusing to be put off by injury and taking to the pitch against Brentford even though he was in a considerable degree of pain. The Northern Ireland lasted 70 minutes before Bielsa shuffled his pack as Leeds went in search of a late equaliser that eventually came courtesy of Pontus Jansson. Rookie Jack Clarke replaced Dallas and instantly provided pace and penetration from the flank. Bielsa is certainly grateful for the versatility of Dallas, who was used predominantly as a winger in his first three seasons for the club. The manager has used the Northern Irishman mainly as a substitute this season and he’s had just one league start out of a possible 12. In total, Dallas has accumulated 272 league minutes and it appears he is going to be a jack of all trades under Bielsa this season, filling in where necessary as the Argentine makes use of his experience and ability to play across a variety of positions.