SANDY, Utah -- Three of Real Salt Lake's starting players, including midfielder Javier Morales, may face Tigres UANL at less than full health after an illness hit the home team on the eve of the match.
RSL square off against Liga MX champions Tigres on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal (10 pm ET, FS2).
Morales, forward Juan Manuel Martinez and defender Demar Phillips have all been hit by an apparently minor illness that's traveling around the RSL locker room.
All three were absent from RSL's final training session before the match but had trained on Monday, with the sickness coming to the fore in the last 24 hours.
RSL coach Jeff Cassar told reporters that the three were resting to prepare for the match.
"We have a little bit of a bug kind of going around right now with the team," Cassar said after Tuesday's training session. "We just wanted to make sure they went home, rested, and hydrated properly, but everything's going to be fine."
Despite being confident that the group would have a quick recovery from illness, noting that they were "probable" to play, Cassar said the players would be evaluated before the match.
"Obviously, we'll see how the night goes and things like that, but they're competitors, and we'll see how they feel tomorrow," he said.
Cassar attributed the illnesses to the team's early season travel, especially from flying to Monterrey, Mexico for the first leg of the quarterfinal last Wednesday.
"We've been traveling, and guys' immunes systems have been down a little bit," he said. "If something kind of catches, it spreads like wildfire."
RSL captain Kyle Beckerman was confident those affected would be able to sufficiently recover before the match.
"I think they'll be fine," he said. "Those guys will get through it. Chicken noodle soup usually works, and they'll be fine."
As two of the team's creative outlets, Morales and Martinez would be particularly important to the team's chances in the match, given that RSL start the second leg down 2-0 on aggregate, and without an away goal.
"We know that we're down two goals right now," Cassar said. "Obviously, we have to make sure we're putting ourselves in positions to score."
Beckerman said that despite the deficit, RSL will stay patient in their attempt to make up ground against Tigres.
"We know what's got to be done," he said. "We'll take it one at a time and see if we can get back in the game."
