BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – A few notes from the Fire’s Tuesday morning training session:
Thorrington, Carr near return: Could the light at the end of the tunnel finally be in sight for John Thorrington and Calen Carr?
The Fire’s oft-injured midfielder and forward have yet to play this season due to quad injuries picked up in the preseason, but both appear to be nearing a full recovery. Both participated in light training Tuesday morning, going through simple ball drills for the better part of two hours.
“It’s good,” Thorrington said of getting the ball back on his foot. “Unfortunately, I’ve had experience coming back from injuries so I’m used to sort of re-acclimating myself to getting a feel for the ball again, but so far so good. It’s a totally different ball game when you get out at full speed but within the controlled environment it’s all gone pretty well so far.”
Neither Thorrington nor Carr gave a specific timeline for a potential return to action, but each is hopeful that he’ll be helping the Fire on the field before the end of the month.
“I’d love to get out there at some point this month,” Thorrington said. “I just hope to get back out to training, get to full speed and make myself available for selection and help us. There’s a lot of season to go and I’m hoping to be out there helping us through the rest of the year.”
Added Carr, “We want to get back as soon as possible. There are a bunch of games coming up with SuperLiga and a busy summer schedule after that so if I could be a part of any that it would be ideal.”
Trialist update: Serbian midfielder Bratislav Ristic and American midfielder Jeremiah White are no longer in camp with the Fire.
Ristic returned to his native Serbia, but Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobs suggested he could be called back into Chicago at a later date. White’s trial, on the other hand, appears to be over.
More injury news: First, the good news: Midfielder Justin Mapp (quad) and defender Tim Ward (calf) participated in full training Tuesday. Their statuses for Thursday’s match against Real Salt Lake are still up in the air.
Now, the bad: Forwards Brian McBride and Collins John and winger Patrick Nyarko all missed Tuesday’s training session. Unfortunately for the club, the Fire’s injury woes don’t stop there. Defender Dasan Robinson and backup goalkeeper Sean Johnson each left training early due to injuries sustained in practice.
De los Cobos didn’t specify the exact nature of the injuries of Nyarko, Robinson and Johnson, but he did say that McBride is dealing with a leg issue.
“Brian felt something in his leg about the muscle, maybe his quad,” de los Cobos said. “[He] preferred to rest today… We need to take care about Brian because he’s a very important player for us.”
John was sidelined due to a gastrointestinal illness that is likely to keep him out for 2-3 more weeks.
The availability of McBride, Nyarko, Robinson, and Johnson for the Real Salt Lake match is currently unknown.
A familiar face: Former Fire midfielder and current US National Team Assistant Coach Jesse Marsch took in practice Tuesday. Marsch spoke with the current Fire players (and his former teammates) John Thorrington, Logan Pause and C.J. Brown, as well as the entire Fire coaching staff over the course of the morning.
