It's not a major injury, but Jámison Olave is set for a spell on the sidelines all the same.
Speaking to reporters on his weekly conference call on Tuesday afternoon, New York Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke revealed that Olave will miss the next “10 to 12 days” with a mild left quad tear suffered in the club’s scoreless draw against the Philadelphia Union this past Saturday.
The Colombian center back suffered the knock at the tail-end of the second half of the Eastern Conference showdown and was replaced by Brandon Barklage. The injury will force Olave to miss the upcoming road game at Chivas USA and could also keep him out of New York’s home game vs. D.C. United on Aug. 31.
“We definitely didn’t want this but we were going to be having to rest Olave at least a game or two so perhaps [this is the time] to rest his injury right now and perhaps his body because he’s been playing a lot for us,” said Petke.
Petke added that Olave’s replacement will be veteran Ibrahim Sekagya, who has started in each of the Red Bulls’ last three games. The 32-year-old defender has been solid if nothing else in his brief time with New York and his outing in central defense vs. the Union may have been his best to date, leaving Petke with plenty of confidence in Sekagya.
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“Something we’ve loved about Ibrahim since he’s been here, is, with his experience and where he’s played, he reads the game incredibly well,” said Petke. “There was some talk and a little whisper about age and this and that, but … he reminds me of Robin Fraser a bit the last three, four years of his career when perhaps he lost a step from years past but his knowledge of the game is so good that he puts himself in great positions.
“I thought that he did well in that aspect [against Philadelphia]. With the ball at his feet, it’s a great feeling for us to have knowing his capabilities of building out of the back, his vision, and we’re very happy with the way he played.”
