FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The return of midfielder Shalrie Joseph to the New England Revolution lineup is still in question heading into Saturday's return match with Chivas USA at Gillette Stadium.
Joseph was held out of last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the Home Depot Center with a lingering groin strain. The Grenada international trained this week and is listed as probable, but whether he'll see the field is uncertain, according to Revolution manager Steve Nicol.
"He's almost there," Nicol said of Joseph. "He's not 100 percent yet. Do we risk him? That's the decision we have to make. Will playing make it any worse?"
Nicol is worried that Joseph could pick up a serious injury and be sidelined for an extended period of time.
Such an injury would rule him out of a congested fixture list that sees the Revolution play Saturday at home against Chivas USA, Tuesday night in Rochester, N.Y., in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup against the Rochester Rhinos (USL First Division), and next Saturday at the New York Red Bulls.
"It doesn't make any sense to play him and then see him get injured and be out for five or six weeks," Nicol said.
Complicating matters is Joseph's urgency to get back onto the field after watching his teammates' tepid performance in Los Angeles last weekend.
Joseph, who said that the Revs "didn't perform" last weekend, believes that he is close to full match fitness.
"I'm not far from 100 percent," Joseph said.
Despite Joseph's desire to get back onto the field, Nicol will leave the decision to the medical staff.
"The problem with Shalrie is that he wants to play no matter what his injury is," Nicol said. "We have to talk with the physios and take the decision out of his hands."
The Revolution are already without one defensive midfielder for this weekend. Jeff Larentowicz (eye) participated in fitness training this week, but is not allowed to engage in contact until next Monday.
With Larentowicz ruled out against Chivas USA, the pressure could be on Nicol to restore Joseph to the lineup and allow Michael Parkhurst to shift back to his normal central defensive spot.
Parkhurst has yet to settle in central midfield, but he recognizes that the injury situation might require further duty there.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen," Parkhurst said. "It's up in the air. Either way, I'll go out and do my best."
If Parkhurst is restored to his role in the center of defense, either Avery John or James Riley is likely to drop out of the side with Gary Flood continuing to deputize for the injured Larentowicz.
Khano Smith is also in contention for a recall after being dropped from the side last weekend in favor of Wells Thompson.
Nicol will be boosted by the availability of leading scorer Taylor Twellman. Twellman, a candidate to be named as an All-Star reserve when the substitutes are named on Monday, is slated to return Friday night from Venezuela after completing Copa America duty with the United States.
With Pat Noonan and Adam Cristman in sparkling form, Nicol will be afforded the luxury of starting Twellman from the bench and giving him the option of further rest after the long haul back to Boston from Venezuela.
"He's been away forever," Nicol said of Twellman. "He's already had two games this week. I'll talk to him [Friday night] and we'll go from there."
Going from there will involve settling the score with Chivas USA after last Saturday's reverse.
Nicol expressed his dismay at the team's performance last weekend after his team struggled to maintain possession and go forward towards goal.
Flood believes that his team has added incentive to perform this weekend because they are getting a chance to strike back against Chivas USA.
"There's a revenge factor there," Flood said. "We want to make up for Saturday's performance."
Assistant coach Paul Mariner believes his side has a chance to exorcise the demons of last weekend with a victory on Saturday night.
"We can put it right out of our minds this weekend," Mariner said.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
