The late-season waters are still muddied for injury-plagued Sporting Kansas City, but at least they shouldn't have to navigate them without their captain and defensive stopper.
Center back Matt Besler came out at the hour mark of Friday night's 1-0 loss to San Jose, going straight to the locker room with an apparent ankle knock, but manager Peter Vermes told reporters he doesn't expect Besler to miss Sporting's next match.
“He'll be fine for Wednesday,” Vermes said during a conference call. “He just needed to come off, but he'll be fine for Wednesday.”
Left back Seth Sinovic also had to be subbed off early, leaving in the 64th minute with what Vermes said were cramp issues.
Kansas City, who played Friday night's match without center back Kevin Ellis (ankle) and defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar (hip pointer), could have clinched a spot in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs with a win or draw against the Earthquakes.
Now, they need to take care of business in their last two matches of the regular season, both at home: against Colorado at midweek, in a match rescheduled from mid-May after the first date was wiped out by lightning, and against defending MLS Cup champions Los Angeles the following Sunday.
“We've got to keep understanding that these games come,” Vermes said. “They're like playoff games, and we've got to keep battling and understand what the tempo's going to be. I thought today, we did well with understanding it. I thought we came out on the front foot quite a bit. So were they. They realized what they had to do as well.”
With a fifth straight postseason berth still on the line, could the quick turnaround be a plus after Friday's frustrating result?
“We knew we had three games going into this week,” Vermes said. “So is it a plus? I don't know. It depends on how you look at it. It'd be nice to have a break, but at the same time, we've got a game. We've got to get ready. We're at home, and now we get ready for that game. I think the guys are already thinking about it.”
Homegrown center back Erik Palmer-Brown made his fourth start of the league season in place of Ellis, and looked solid throughout the match even after Besler was subbed off for Amobi Okugo.
“I thought he had a fantastic game,” Vermes said. “I thought he was very good. The kid's 18 years old, and he was very, very good in the game.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
