TUKWILA, Wash. — Heading into unquestionably their most important game of the year, the Seattle Sounders will have as close to fully healthy roster as they have had in quite some time.
Injured starters Obafemi Martins and DeAndre Yedlin both traveled and trained with the team in Portland the night before Thursday’s second leg of the Western Conference Championship (11 pm ET, NBCSN, Uni. Deportes, TSN2 in Canada). Both sat out the first leg against the Portland Timbers, who lead the aggregate-goal series 2-1.
Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid declared the 20-year-old Yedlin “fine,” but was slightly more guarded when talking about Martins.
“We’ll see tomorrow how he came through tonight,” Schmid told reporters on Wednesday. “He was able to do everything tonight. He was able to do more than he did yesterday, so that’s a good sign.”
Martins has only played in one of the Sounders’ past seven games while dealing with a groin injury.
If Martins can play at JELD-WEN Field on Thursday, it would mark the second time he’s been on the field alongside Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey. So far, the trio have only played together a total of 15 minutes, which came in the Sounders’ 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Sept. 13.
“You want to have as many players available as possible,” Dempsey said earlier this week. “He’s one of our DPs. He has a lot of quality and he has a lot of experience. If he’s available to play, then that’ll be great. You’d like to see what’s going to be that best XI that we can put on the field.”
Schmid also said that he expected Zach Scott (ribs) to be available, but was not as confident that Leo González (hamstring) would.
