KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Center back Matt Besler did not train with Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday, raising the possibility that the 2012 Defender of the Year could miss a second straight game with what the club says is a “tweaked” medial collateral ligament.
Manager Peter Vermes characterized the injury as minor, though, and said he still had not decided whether to put Besler on the game-day roster for Wednesday night's home match against Seattle (8:30 pm ET, watch on MLS Live).
“We're going to take one more day, but I'm not going to put him in harm's way, either,” Vermes said after Tuesday's training session. “We'll just have to wait and see what could be with that situation. It's a day-to-day thing. Sometimes that's how it goes when you tweak the MCL just a little bit. It's a minor one, but we're also being cautious so it doesn't turn into a longer one.”
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Besler took the knock in Sporting's 3-2 loss to Portland on April 27, Vermes said, but it did not hamper him until Saturday's training session.
That led Sporting to hold him out of Sunday's 4-0 rout of Chivas USA, with Ike Opara taking Besler's place in the XI and going the full 90 in his second start of the season. Besler's injury was not listed in the pregame notes, but Vermes announced it in the postmatch news conference.
“He didn't think it was as bad as it was,” Vermes said on Tuesday. “Then, when he started training the day before, it just didn't feel right to him.”
Sporting, who also have Lawrence Olum available at center back – where he started in in their US Open Cup final victory over the Sounders last August – are in the middle of a stretch of three matches in eight days. After Wednesday night's game, they will play at Houston on Sunday.
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
