Striker Charlie Davies and captain Dax McCarty are both in line to return for D.C. United in a crucial road match at the LA Galaxy on Friday (11 pm ET, Fox Soccer).
The pair didn’t make the 18-man roster in DC’s 3-2 win in Portland last Sunday, but trained all week and are expected to factor against LA.
“Dax and Charlie are good to go,” DC head coach Ben Olsen told MLSsoccer.com.
McCarty was a late scratch after suffering a groin injury ahead of last week’s game in Portland, while Davies has missed two games after injuring his hamstring against the Colorado Rapids on May 14. Davies has a team-high six goals this season.
Despite missing time, Olsen seemed confident that Davies could be in the lineup from the start.
“Charlie’s healthy,” he said. “We’re still evaluating, but he certainly could go if we chose to start him.”
In Davies’s absence, rookie forward Blake Brettschneider stated his case for playing time, picking up two assists in the win against Portland. Given the rookie’s play, and fellow forward Josh Wolff’s return from a groin injury, Olsen has a full striking contingent to choose from when picking Friday’s lineup.
If Davies does come off the bench, he’ll look to play a similar role to the one he did when the two teams met in Washington back on April 9. Entering as an early second half substitute, he drew and converted a penalty in injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw for United.
Travis Clark covers D.C. United, college and youth soccer for MLSsoccer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @travismclark
