FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For the second consecutive year, New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth will assume a place in the starting XI as the Revs start to build for the following campaign.
Shuttleworth will make his fifth MLS start of the season against San Jose on Saturday night (7:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online) after regular No. 1 Matt Reis suffered a right hamstring strain in last Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Seattle.
Oddly enough, Shuttleworth also came into the side due to a Reis injury with three matches remaining last season. The third-year goalkeeper started the final three games in 2010 after Reis underwent right ankle surgery last October.
Although he would like the opportunity to replicate his season-concluding spell as the starter in 2011, Shuttleworth said he plans to train his focus solely on Earthquakes for now
“Last year, I got those three games at the end of the year when Matty had to have surgery,” Shuttleworth told MLSsoccer.com earlier this week. “That was a good experience for me to get that run of three games in a row to know what that's like. Hopefully, I can get the last three games here. I'm going to take it one game at a time and try to get a result against San Jose.”
Shuttleworth's return between the sticks – his first nod since playing 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with New York on Aug. 20 – isn't the only change Revolution coach Steve Nicol must make to his lineup.
Rookie defender A.J. Soares will miss the final three games of the season after undergoing left ankle surgery on Thursday. Franco Coria looks set to return to the fold to pick up the slack in central defense after serving a one-match ban, while Ryan Cochrane (right ankle irritation) could retain his spot after dropping off the injury list on Friday afternoon.
Reis and Soares – plus rookie midfielder Ryan Kinne (nasal fracture) – join a lengthy list of players already sidelined. Rajko Lekic (left ankle sprain) and Sainey Nyassi (right hamstring strain) remain on the road to recovery, while Stephen McCarthy (left shoulder surgery) will not feature again this season.
In addition to those more prohibitive injury complaints, Kevin Alston (left hamstring irritation) and Monsef Zerka (left quadriceps strain) will likely feature against the Earthquakes as they continue to battle lingering knocks.
