FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England may have to enter their final home game of the season without defensive mainstay Stephen McCarthy.
McCarthy recently sustained a head injury during a training session and sat out the Revolution's 2-1 defeat in Philadelphia on Oct. 6. He is currently listed as out on the club's injury report with concussive-like symptoms after missing the first two days of practice this week, meaning he is almost certain to sit out Saturday's home finale against Chicago (7:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
“He took a shot in training, a point-blank drive,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “I think that had some lingering effects. We had to reset and get his head calmed down. He's moving along great, but we just want to be really cautious with the head injury.”
READ: Stephen McCarthy player profile
McCarthy is currently working his way through those lingering effects, according to Heaps. Since McCarthy departed the 1-0 home defeat to Toronto FC on July 14 with a head injury and missed the subsequent trip to Montreal four days later, the Revs plan to take special care with this particular setback.
“We're going through the concussion process,” Heaps said. “We're going to let this one play out with no urgency. With McCarthy, he's getting better every day. To push him at this point would be a little bit foolish, I believe.”
Although Heaps would like to have McCarthy back in the fold as soon as possible, he plans to give his center back all of the time he needs to recover in order to ensure his fitness for the present and the future.
“We want him to go at his own pace,” Heaps said. “I think if this was the middle of the season or a playoff game, then he would be pushing himself a little bit. With him, we just want to be really smart.”
