TORONTO – Toronto FC head coach Ryan Nelsen said Tuesday that even though injured Designated players Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley missed the team’s training session on Tuesday, it’s still too early to know if either will return to action this weekend.
Defoe missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury in the Reds’ 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids over the weekend, and Bradley missed his first game of the season while dealing with a quadriceps injury. Toronto face FC Dallas on the road on Saturday.
“It’s just Tuesday,” Nelsen told reporters at the Kia Training Grounds. “We’ve still got a long way to go, we’ve still got five days, so it’s too early to make any predictions at the moment.”
Nelsen is in no rush to bring either player back into the fold and risk further injury, though, explaining that the bye week following the Dallas game will give his team a chance to regroup.
“We’ve got a couple weeks break after that game,” Nelsen said. “We’ve really got to knuckle down. It’s a really important time just to get everybody back fit. We’ve got four home games out of five after Dallas so we want everybody fit for that little segment there.”
Nelsen also confirmed that forward/midfielder Dwayne De Rosario will not play against Dallas after leaving in the 67th minute of the Colorado loss with a muscle strain, and defender Doneil Henry (knee strain) is still out.
He’s more optimistic, however, about midfielder Jonathan Osorio (hamstring), who has missed the past three games, telling media that “he’s progressing really well, actually.”
Added Nelsen, with a smile: “Hopefully the other teams now, they catch our bug and we get to play them with a few down.”
