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Sandy • Eight new players dot the Real Salt Lake roster, and coach Jason Kreis understands that each of them will need his own time to adjust to the team's system and pace.

So far, though, Sebastian Velasquez leads the pack.

"He's shown that he wants to compete for a spot right away," Kreis said.

Chosen in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft, the eager 21-year-old Colombian out of Spartanburg Methodist Community College in South Carolina was the first junior-college player picked in the MLS SuperDraft since former RSL forward Yura Movsisyan six years ago.

Velasquez impressed Kreis enough that he started the final preseason game with many of the regular starters, and could find himself in the lineup again in the season-opener at Los Angeles on Saturday.

Either he or fellow newcomer Jonny Steele is poised to fill in for injured Will Johnson on the left side of the midfield.

"All of the guys I think did take a step forward in my eyes" during training camp, Kreis said. "But he took a little bit bigger one than most."

Injury report

Midfielder Javier Morales and forward Alvaro Saborio are among four regulars coming off surgeries who are not expected to start against the Galaxy.

But they could come off the bench for 30 minutes or so.

Defender Nat Borchers and Johnson, however, won't be available at all. Defender Jamison Olave looks fit to go after suffering a strained groin in the preseason finale.

Back so soon?

Defender Chris Wingert said he expects to be ready to face the Galaxy despite suffering a savage cut above his right eye during the preseason finale last weekend — a game in which he also scorched a world-class winner into the upper 90 to beat the New York Red Bulls.

"Good at scoring in games that don't count," he joked.

Of course, Wingert scored the only goal of his eight-year, 187-game MLS career against Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center, where RSL will play Saturday.

"I'll take the stitches if I can score again," he said, "maybe 10 of these a year."