KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Like a child counting down the hours until the first day of school, Davy Arnaud found sleep hard to come by as he prepared to return to the training field for the first time in a month.
After undergoing sports hernia surgery in July, Arnaud made his eagerly awaited return to full training this week, working his way through back-to-back sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday without any setbacks.
It was a step in the right direction for Sporting Kansas City’s captain, who has barely been able to contain his desire to get back on the field after suffering the first major, midseason injury of his career. So much so, in fact, that he pushed himself a little too hard early on in the recovery process.
“Today I was a little bit sore,” Arnaud said after Wednesday’s session, “but that’s normal. I’m going to have that. It’s going to feel better and better each day. A couple weeks ago, I had a little setback because I tried a little bit too early. I’m good now, though.”
But even though Arnaud has finally worked his way back onto the training pitch, all indications are he won’t a have significant role on the field for a few weeks at least as manager Peter Vermes takes a cautious approach to working his captain back into the rotation.
That’s no different that the attitude Vermes has toward Aurélien Collin, Jeferson and Craig Rocastle, who are all also working their way back from assorted injuries.
“It’s good to see [Davy] two days in a row,” Vermes said. “He really doesn’t have any pain so far, which is great. With all the guys, I’ll make the blanket statement that they have to get consistent days of training in [before they see time in games].”
Vermes said Collin and Jéferson would likely be probable for this Saturday’s match against FC Dallas at Livestrong Sporting Park (8:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
Jéferson left Kansas City’s 2-1 defeat to Seattle earlier this month just before halftime with a strained quad and hasn’t played since. He worked out by himself on Wednesday with fitness coach Mateus Manoel.
Collin returned to training late last week after suffering a fracture in his lower back against Toronto on July 23. He said he was ahead of schedule but hesitated to give a definite date on his return to the field, preferring to leave that detail to Vermes and the training staff.
“I’m happy to be back,” Collin said. “It’s been a long time. I’m going easy, but I feel very good training with the team. I feel good with the contact and technically I’m getting back.”
Like Arnaud, Rocastle suffered a setback from his recovery from knee surgery recently, straining his hamstring after returning to full training.
Nobody, however, was as visibly anxious to return to action as Arnaud, who admitted he was having trouble being patient with the pace of his rehabilitation, especially considering the playoff push is beginning to heat up.
“I’m competitive,” he said. “As soon as I’m able to run and train, I want to be back on the field. That’s how I feel about it. Between the coaches, myself and the training staff, we’ll all talk and decide when the best time for that is.”
