WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the final five games of the 2013 season, Sebastien Le Toux played a combined 90 minutes due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Exactly one year later, an injury near the same part of his body may again limit Le Toux during the final month of the season – and, in turn, be a major detriment to the Philadelphia Union’s fading playoff hopes.
In the first half of Philadelphia’s 1-0 loss to D.C. United on Saturday, Le Toux left the game with a sprained ankle. And speaking candidly from the visiting locker room after the game, the Frenchman expressed concern about his status for the team’s remaining four games, beginning with Thursday’s make-or-break home tilt against the Chicago Fire (8 pm ET; ESPN2).
“We’ll have to take an MRI and see what’s going on,” Le Toux said. “I hope for the minimum but I don’t really know right now. It doesn’t look so good, so we’ll see.”
Per the team, Le Toux’s MRI is scheduled for Monday afternoon. The team also said that the Frenchman was able to do some light training Moday, which is a promising development considering how much pain he said he was in after the game Saturday.
According to Le Toux, “it’s been a long time” since he sprained his ankle. But he knew this one was significant when, after playing the ball off of D.C. United’s Taylor Kemp, he felt “a bad roll.”
“If I could have played on it, I would have,” Le Toux said. “But I felt it was not possible for me to push hard on my right foot, my strong foot, so I thought it was better to ask for a sub.”
Union interim manager Jim Curtin seemed slightly more optimistic about Le Toux’s status, saying that the Frenchman would be “day by day” and that the injury was “not too serious.” He also was pleased with how Danny Cruz played as Le Toux’s replacement, noting that Cruz “caused some havoc” and “gave us a ton of energy.”
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But while Cruz is certainly a solid option off the bench, he likely won’t be able to match the offensive production of Le Toux, who leads the team with 12 goals and is second with six assists.
Le Toux hopes he’ll be able to still add to those totals while helping the Union’s uphill climb to the playoffs. But the only way to do that is to get back on the field and avoid a repeat of last year.
“We have four more games and we have to probably win all of them now,” Le Toux said. “I hope to do whatever I can to help the team win those games – if I can play.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
