'Let's not underestimate the achievement' - Dallas on Leeds' season
- Published
Former Leeds United cult hero and promotion winner Stuart Dallas says the Whites have "more than enough" to avoid relegation this season and he is "confident" they will do so.
Daniel Farke's side beat West Ham last weekend to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1987 and are four points outside the Premier League relegation zone with seven games to play.
"Let's not underestimate the achievement of the club getting to a semi-final of the FA Cup and still being in a strong position to stay up," he told BBC Radio Leeds as he opened a new padel court in the city.
"What these players have achieved last year and this year is incredible and the club, manager and hierarchy deserve a lot of praise. When times were tough they stuck by the manager and he's repaid that and the players have repaid the manager.
"They are in a really strong position. They are more than capable, they have shown they can compete at the highest level. The hardest thing is to do it consistently but this team have more than enough to stay up.
"They can't look at what is happening around them and focus all their energy into what is ahead of them. They will be OK. I'm confident they can go to Man Utd on Monday and get a result.
"There is huge belief."
Dallas made 267 appearances across nine years with Leeds, and won the club's Player of the Season award both when they were promoted to the Championship in 2019-2020 and when they finished ninth the following campaign under Marcelo Bielsa.
"It's where I call home now," he added.
"Northern Ireland is where I was born and bred and that will always be the case but I go back there now and I can't wait to get back to Leeds because it's my home and it's where my kids were born and go to school.
"The city has given me so much, I love the people of the city, and the club means so much to me. I am so proud and privileged to have represented Leeds on so many occasions."
