CARSON, Calif. – The struggling LA Galaxy could get a big lift for Saturday's trip to Sporting Kansas City (4 pm ET; ESPN, ESPN Deportes, LIVE CHAT on MLSsoccer.com), as Landon Donovan has returned to training after nursing a quadriceps injury.
The Galaxy captain sat our last weekend's 3-1 loss to New England, but head coach Bruce Arena believes Donovan will be ready to go for Saturday's match against 4-0-0 Sporting.
“We have to get through the rest of the week,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday. “That’s the bottom line. I expect he’ll be ready to play, though.”
Donovan is listed as questionable with tightness in his left quad in the league’s injury report released on Tuesday. However, Arena said Donovan could have played against New England but was rested due to precautionary reasons more than the actual injury.
Without Donovan, the Galaxy struggled to maintain their composure after falling down a goal in the 10th minute and yielded another goal three minutes later – that second one coming from left fullback Chris Tierney, who found acres of space bursting through the area Donovan usually occupies on defense.
LA gave up a third goal midway through the second half and could not slice more than one goal off the lead in the late stages of the match.
With their captain back in the lineup, the Galaxy should be better off heading into Kansas City.
“Like any team, it’s important to have your best players on the field," Arena continued. We’re a better team with Landon on the field. We’re hopeful he will be back on Saturday."
Another player who was out of action against the Revs – at least for the second half – was also out of action for part of Wednesday’s training session, as midfielder David Beckham did not participate for a long stretch of the Galaxy’s training session. Arena explained it was to give the veteran some time to rest.
Luis Bueno covers the LA Galaxy for MLSsoccer.com and can be reached by e-mail at buenodad@gmail.com
