Former Leeds United star Noel Whelan has lashed out at Northern Ireland for calling up an injured Stuart Dallas during the international break.

Dallas, who has missed Leeds’ last six matches in all competitions with a calf injury, was called up by Northern Ireland for their World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan last Friday.




However, the 25-year-old missed his country’s 4-0 win over Azerbaijan as he pulled out from the Northern Ireland squad and returned to Leeds early last week because of the injury.

And Whelan thinks it was highly unprofessional for Northern Ireland to call up injured Dallas, only to send him back, thereby disrupting the midfielder’s rehabilitation process.
 


“Northern Ireland also called up Stuart Dallas during the international break – even though he had been injured – and, personally, I think that’s shambolic”, he wrote in his column in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

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“I think the clubs help the countries a lot with the players and I really think you should get the same back from countries so if they are injured, they are injured.

“No one is going to lie about it and he’s not been playing for four weeks so why should he be leaving his physio treatment and the work that the physios are doing with such an important player to go away for three days.

“That time could have been critical to his rehabilitation with Leeds United so why they called him up is beyond me – just to send him back. It’s destructive and it’s unprofessional in my eyes.

“Yes, it’s an international break but he is injured and not playing. And it’s important that the club get the same benefits to what the countries expect.”

Dallas, who joined Leeds from Brentford in the summer of 2015, has thus far made nine appearances in all competitions for the Yorkshire giants in the present campaign.

He has 18 caps and a goal for Northern Ireland to his name since making his senior international debut in May 2011.