COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – It appears that striker Deshorn Brown (groin), defender Shane O’Neill (knee) and midfielder José Mari (ankle) will all be forced to miss the Rapids’ trip to New England to face the New England Revolution on Wednesday night (7:30 pm ET, MLS Live).
The Rapids said on Monday that fitness tests will be conducted on Brown and Mari to determine their potential availability for Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Cup showdown against Real Salt Lake (9 pm ET, MLS Live), which would appear to rule them out of Wednesday’s clash at the least. O'Neill will not undergo a fitness test, but is also unlikely to play.
All three have been significant contributors for Colorado this season. Brown leads the club in goals (7) and José Mari and O’Neill have both started the majority of matches for which they’ve been available.
However, midfielder Jared Watts, who suffered a right shin contusion in Friday’s win over Chivas USA, will be available for selection on Wednesday, the team said.
The Rapids traveled on Monday to New England, where they will try to shake off their recent road woes.
Over their last six road matches, they’ve recorded just two points, most recently suffering a tough late 2-1 loss at Portland on July 18. But head coach Pablo Mastroeni said he doesn’t see problems on the road and defended his club’s play away from home last week.
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He’ll try to prove the skeptics wrong on Wednesday night.
“That’s your business, that’s not my business,” Mastroeni said last week when asked about coverage of the Rapids’ recent road struggles. “That world doesn’t exist to me. I don’t look at it.”
Chris Bianchi covers the Colorado Rapids for MLSsoccer.com.
