TORONTO – Toronto FC defender Adrian Cann will miss the rest of the season recovering from a nasal fracture he suffered last Saturday at Chivas USA.
Interim head coach Nick Dasovic appeared in studio Thursday night on Toronto sports radio station The Fan 590 and said the Toronto FC center back will sit out the last three games of the season, starting Saturday against Columbus.
The move will likely mean more playing time for defenders Maksim Usanov, Raivis Hscanovics and 18-year-old Doneil Henry, the club’s first homegrown signee.
Dasovic added the team will call up four players from the Academy with one or two likely to see playing time.
Cann suffered the injury last weekend in the 74th minute, when Chivas USA striker Alan Gordon appeared to push him in the face pursuing a through ball. That forced the Toronto native to leave the game.
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Referee Terry Vaughn issued only a caution and, in Toronto’s ensuing protest, ejected assistant coach Danny Dichio.
After reviewing the incident, MLS deemed Gordon’s action to be violent conduct and on Wednesday suspended him for two matches, fining him $1,000.
Before the incident, Cann, a part-time model, paired with fellow Canadian national team defender Nana Attakora to form a solid tandem in the middle. Cann trialed with TFC during the preseason, signing just before the start of the regular season.
Since then, he has been a workhorse, playing and starting 25 games and amassing a team-leading 2,250 minutes.
Though in the future mix for Canada, national team coach Stephen Hart decided against calling him up for two friendlies in early September to avoid depleting Toronto FC during their push for an MLS Cup Playoffs spot.
