This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Looks like Javier Morales and Ned Grabavoy are not hurt as badly as Real Salt Lake originally feared.
The veteran midfielders were both injured in the closing stages of a 1-0 home victory over Montreal on Wednesday. But team officials said that after examinations by team doctors — including ultrasounds to assess internal damage — both appear poised for a relatively quick recovery, though neither is expected to play against Colorado at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.
Morales could be out only two to three weeks with a strained right hamstring, team trainer Tyson Pace said, while Grabavoy's return to action might depend mostly on his level of pain tolerance — which appears quite high.
Grabavoy played the final 15 minutes or so against Montreal with what he thought was a broken rib, though it turned out it was only dislocated.
In a related move, RSL asked U.S. Soccer to release 18-year-old midfielder Luis Gil from his call into a U-20 national team training camp next week. The federation complied, since RSL figures to be short on experienced midfielders when it travels to play Sporting KC on April 14, when Gil otherwise would have been away.
Gil figures to replace Morales at the top of RSL's diamond midfield formation against the Rapids, with probably either Jonny Steele or Sebastian Velasquez replacing Grabavoy opposite Will Johnson on the outside.
The Rapids game will be the third game in seven days for RSL, which can maintain the top spot in the MLS Western Conference with a victory. The team is 4-1-0 for 12 points, with a plus-five goal differential — second only to Sporting KC, the only perfect team in the league. —
Colorado at Salt Lake
P Saturday, 7 p.m., CW30