Dallas sure Euro door still open

LEEDS United winger Stuart Dallas says Northern Ireland would relish a potential backdoor route to next summer’s Euro 2020 finals via the play-offs in March.

Automatic qualification isn’t yet dead in the water, but Thursday’s defeat in Rotterdam means the Dutch and Germans are odds-on favourites to secure a top two finish in the group.

The good news is a potential lifeline and alternative route lurks on the horizon with 16 play-off spots filtering down via the complex Nations League format.

Four nations would advance to next year’s finals and as things stand, Northern Ireland are in contention to make the cut.

“Of course, we would relish a play-off place, those are the games we want to play in,” said Dallas.

“If you can’t qualify automatically, obviously that is the next best.

“We are under no illusions how hard it would be if we did manage to get into that position, but we want to be involved in major tournaments. We had the taste of that at Euro 2016 and we want that again.”

While Northern Ireland’s interest in the play-off picture has sharpened in recent days, Dallas insists Michael O’neill’s men have to take care of the here and now.

Getting back to winning ways in tonight’s friendly in Prague and next month’s final Euro Group C double header with the Germans and Dutch are higher on the to-do list. “There are a lot of ifs and buts and we can’t really look too far ahead,” said Dallas. “We’ll just concentrate on one game at a time and that starts against the Czech Republic.

“It was a disappointing result in Rotterdam – of course it was – but we’ve got a chance to take that frustration and put in a good performance.”

O’neill’s men won five on the bounce prior to last