FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Blair Gavin took a few minutes at the conclusion of his first training session as a member of the New England Revolution to sit on the Gillette Stadium turf.
He likely needed the rest.
Gavin is right in the middle of a whirlwind week that involved a trade from Chivas USA on Wednesday, a furious rush to pack up his belongings for a quick move across the continent and a long flight to link up with his new teammates ahead of Saturday's match against Sporting Kansas City (7:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
“Obviously, it's been a shock,” Gavin told MLSsoccer.com on Friday morning. “Once you actually hear the words 'you've been traded,' it doesn't do it justice until you get here and you're like, 'Wow, I'm at New England right now.' It's going to take an adjustment period, but I'm excited to be here and I'm glad to be wearing the crest of New England.”
Gavin may not trot onto the field with the club's logo on his chest this weekend, however. The 23-year-old midfielder is currently listed as doubtful for the date against Sporting with a left hamstring strain and said he isn't quite sure he's ready to take the field for his new side just yet.
Revolution coach Jay Heaps said he wants to tread carefully with Gavin after his busy week to guarantee the former Akron star is fully fit upon his Revolution debut.
“Anyone who has been traded – and I was one of them – even if you think or know the trade's coming, when you wake up the next day, your world looks a little bit different,” Heaps said. “We want to make sure we bring him along and we want to make sure he's fit. He's got a little bit of tightness in his hamstring, so we're working through that to make sure we don't put him through something he can't go through this week.”
Similar sentiments apply to the injury situations confronting Kevin Alston (questionable with left hamstring soreness) and A.J. Soares (doubtful with a right hamstring strain) ahead of the match, but Heaps will hope to have both starters in the lineup as the Revs attempt to secure a first victory in five attempts.
The secret to collecting that desired win stems from building upon the sound principles that ultimately yielded a 0-0 draw at Livestrong Sporting Park on July 21, according to Heaps.
“We think that we can take a very similar, safe and smart approach,” Heaps said. “Hopefully, we'll have a little bit more [in terms of] legs underneath us to help us finish out the game with all of our players on the field.”
