Injury expert and Sky Sports contributor Ben Dinnery has reacted to a major injury blow for versatile Leeds United defender Stuart Dallas.

The lowdown: Long-term layoff for Dallas

The Whites confirmed that the Northern Ireland international suffered a femoral fracture in the 4-0 defeat against Manchester City last Saturday.

The 31-year-old will need to undergo surgery and is set for a 'lengthy period out of action' following the incident with Jack Grealish.

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An expert in the field of injuries has now had his say on this cruel blow for Dallas and Leeds...

The latest: Dallas suffers 'unusual' injury setback

Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery - who runs the Premier Injuries website - suggested that the issues suffered by the 31-year-old are complicated and will likely take a long time from which to recover.

The injury expert lamented: “This is bad news for Leeds United. It’s a rare injury. At first, I thought it was an MCL injury and the focus was all around the knee. I didn’t expect for a minute for the update to confirm that there had been a fractured femur.

“It’s highly unusual and not a mechanism we’ve seen in all the years we’ve been recording data. The only fractured femur I’ve seen was Pape Matar Sarr at Crystal Palace, but that was from a car crash.

“A lot depends on the location and type of fracture. Based on the footage, there could be an injury to the adjacent knee joint as well.

“Some research suggests that a third of these injuries will involve ligament damage as well. We could be looking easily at six months or even beyond that if the damage is really severe.”

The verdict: Major loss for Leeds

Having featured in all of Leeds' 34 Premier League fixtures in 2021/22 to this point, it's not difficult to fathom how big a loss Dallas will be to Jesse Marsch's side, particularly with them in the thick of a relegation battle.

Described as 'tremendous' by former Scotland manager Alex McLeish, the Northern Ireland international and Elland Road fan favourite has earned a superb 6.90 average Sofascore rating this season - the third-highest among outfield players in Marsch's squad - whilst once again operating in numerous positions for the Whites.

Regardless of whether or not they retain their top-flight status next term, Leeds will hope to welcome the 56-cap stalwart back with open arms at some point in the 2022/23 campaign.

In other news, Danny Mills urges Leeds to tie down this player…