New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps may have to take some preventative steps within his own squad after Kevin Alston departed Saturday night's 3-1 victory over LA at halftime with tightness in his left hamstring.
That tightness could keep Alston out of Thursday's date with FC Dallas (8:30 pm ET; watch LIVE online) and pave the way for Florian Lechner to make his first MLS start. Heaps wouldn't disclose his plans, but he did say that he wanted to approach the matter carefully.
“We're not exactly sure if we're going to push him this week or give him the rest with the night off,” Heaps said. “He's listed as doubtful and we're going to make sure we're smart with that aggressiveness. We want to be ahead of it and make sure that he isn't injured further.”
Tornadoes force Revs to find cover
While Heaps was mulling over his lineup options, severe weather conditions in the metropolitan Dallas area forced the Revs to spend some unexpected time in the hotel basement on Tuesday.
Hotel officials asked everyone in the Frisco hotel – including the New England delegation – to take refuge on Tuesday afternoon as a precautionary measure.
Although the tornadoes that touched down in Arlington, Forney and Lancaster did not impact the Frisco area, the stormy weather kept the Revs in the basement for a brief period of time before passing through to other areas.
“It felt like a fire drill in high school,” Heaps told MLSsoccer.com. “We were all down in the basement. You have to make sure you take the right precautions. A tornado hit my family hard in Springfield [Mass.] last year when that came through. My brother-in-law lost his home entirely and it came out of nowhere. You have to take the right measures.”
MLS veteran Vaudreuil named reserve team coach
Ex-Chicago, Colorado, D.C. United and Miami defender David Vaudreuil will join the Revs as reserve team coach when the club returns to Massachusetts on Friday. Vaudreuil, 45, will leave his current role with Connecticut Football Club to link up with the Revs.
Zak Boggs will miss the next six matches after landing on the Disabled List on Wednesday with a right ankle sprain. Boggs missed out on a place in the squad for the first four games after he sustained the injury during a training session on Feb. 14.
