BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — The Chicago Fire will be without team captain Logan Pause again this weekend, when they travel north across the border to face Toronto FC on Saturday (7 pm ET, MatchDay Live).
Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos told reporters Thursday that Pause will miss Saturday’s match due to a strained left hamstring, which has kept the midfielder out of Chicago’s last two matches.
“Logan has some problems in his hamstring, but we have confidence in the other players,” de los Cobos said. “We are playing acceptable and I am very excited for the [match.]”
With Pause out of the lineup, de los Cobos will probably stick with the center midfield trio of Daniel Paladini, Corben Bone and Gastón Puerari on Saturday.
De los Cobos also said that defender Cory Gibbs, who missed the last three games because of a hamstring strain of his own, will return to the pitch on Saturday. The veteran center back will most likely start alongside Josip Mikulic, pushing defender Yamith Cuesta — who filled in during Gibbs’s absence — to the bench.
Nazarit to travel to Toronto
New Fire forward Cristian Nazarit won’t start on Saturday, but according to de los Cobos, the 20-year-old Colombian striker will travel with the team and be an option off the bench.
“Nazarit is working hard,” de los Cobos said. “He doesn’t have the ideal level of fitness, but he’s coming with us and he’ll start on the bench. … I think it’s good for him and for the team for him to put him on the roster, to travel and to adapt to the game.”
Nazarit started training with Chicago last Thursday.
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
