Juan Pablo Angel had targeted Saturday's game against FC Dallas at Giants Stadium for his return from a strained hamstring that kept him sidelined from the last two New York Red Bulls' games.
But the club's leading scorer a year ago had a setback in training the last two days and will miss his third consecutive game.
Angel, who has also suffered from a nerve-related back injury and had two herniated discs in his back, trained with Claudio Reyna off to the side Friday at Montclair State University while his teammates prepared to take on FC Dallas.
"I was always making progress this week, but then yesterday and today I felt sore again," Angel said. "I was starting to step up a little bit and yesterday and today it was getting tighter again. I've got to start to slow down a little bit and look toward the beginning of next week."
While there was some confusion as to the nerve-related back injury he suffered because it caused hamstring pain, Angel is currently sidelined with a strained hamstring he suffered in the dying moments of a 1-0 home win against Chivas USA, the team's lone victory in its last six games.
"I was compensating by playing with the injury that I had before and I ended up making it worse. I knew at some point it was going to happen, so the blame is on me that I didn't want to stop," Angel said. "Now obviously I've got to get it right. In a sense I feel better because I know what it is, where before I didn't know what it was. Now we know what to treat, what to do with it."
Reyna, the Red Bulls' other designated player, will miss his fourth consecutive game and there's no timetable for his return. Reyna declined interview requests Friday.
"At the moment he is doing individual work, extra work on his own with (the trainers)," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "That's all I know."
So the Red Bulls will head into their third game in eight days with the same roster they brought to Foxborough, Mass., where they forged a 1-1 draw with the red-hot Revolution Wednesday night.
And it's most likely that the Red Bulls will field the same starting XI against FC Dallas Saturday night.
That means a backline without Jeff Parke, who is expected to sit for a second consecutive game with nagging ankle and hamstring injuries, and Carlos Mendes playing in front of the defense, assigned to shut down FC Dallas' playmaker, Juan Toja. In the same role Wednesday, Mendes gave Steve Ralston fits and the Red Bulls' diamond formation in the midfield stymied the Revs attack.
"That's a position that suits Carlos' strengths -- he's quick, competitive, aggressive and he likes the 1-v-1 situations," Osorio said. "In this league, as we all know, center backs have to be very good in the air. Most teams play long balls and that's not his strength."
Dane Richards should start up front for the second game in a row. Richards, who started alongside Oscar Echeverry Wednesday, caused the Revs' fits all game and his brilliant 40-yard knifing run through the New England defense nearly led to an Echeverry goal that would have given the Red Bulls' a 2-0 halftime lead.
"It worked out well," Richards said. "When I'm playing on the right I always stay on the right and just look for balls, try to get crosses in. up front I can move from right to left and go into open space for the ball. I'm more dangerous when I can move all over. The defender has to keep following me into the open space and I can tell them on from both the right and the left."
Richards played forward in college, scoring 11 goals in 20 games at Clemson University, where he was named a second team NSCAA All-American.
"One thing is to go on the board and say you play here, you play there, and the other thing is how comfortable the players are playing in those positions," Osorio said. "When I asked him he says he fancies his chances. He was good. I think he put a great ball to Oscar that could have killed that game. He gave them also problems. They couldn't really handle their pace."
One reason why Osorio is leaning toward using the same lineup is that FC Dallas has played the same 3-4-1-2 formation as the Revs. That helps in the short turnaround from Wednesday's draw.
"What we did on Monday and Tuesday in preparation for New England also applies for the game tomorrow providing they play that way," Osorio said.
Of course that's easier said than done when Kenny Cooper is on the field.
"I think he's probably among the best two target men in this league," Osorio said. "For a big man, he's got two good feet, good control in tight areas, good finisher. He plays football by instinct and I think he's quite good at it."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
