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Joao Plata currently has just one day off a week. The other six are spent undergoing various rehabilitation workouts. That's life on the shelf.

The Real Salt Lake forward suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot in late January, on the first day of preseason workouts at an indoor soccer facility in Draper and is in the midst of working his way back from the same injury that befell Alvaro Saborio, Devon Sandoval and Chris Schuler before him.

On Wednesday, RSL head athletic trainer Tyson Pace said the 23-year-old Plata remains on schedule to return to the field four months later. Which puts Plata about five weeks away from that target date in late May. Pace said Plata is at the two-and-a-half-month mark of his rehabilitation and that the next scheduled X-ray to determine the progression from the fracture is April 29.

The most recent X-ray, Pace said, showed the bone healed at about 66 percent. In order for Plata to move into the impact phase of his rehab, Pace explained, the training staff needs radiographic evidence that the sustained fracture has healed fully. Once radiographic evidence green-lights Plata, he's then looking at a 4-to-6-week process to full return to training and gameplay.

"Right now he's just rehabbing," Pace said. "We have him doing some strengthening exercises and we just maintain, basically, that he doesn't lose atrophy in his muscles … he's doing bike workouts and rowing workouts and swimming workouts and then he's just doing a bunch of muscle strength training, but he can't just do impact."

When entered, the impact phase will eventually include a progression of 15 seconds of jogging and walking for 15-to-20 minutes and as days wear on, it will increase to 45 seconds on and off as the work-rate ratio will increase from 2/1 to 3/1 to 4/1 and so on. Once Plata's beyond that stage, he'll start jogging regularly, either on the treadmill or on an anti-gravity treadmill.

Pace said with the recent developments regarding NBA star Kevin Durant and his lingering — and re-injured — foot fracture that hampered him throughout Oklahoma City's 2015 season, the training staff is taking extra precaution and ensuring Plata returns at the right time.

Plata was RSL's breakout player in 2014 scoring 13 goals and notching six assists. The same day his diagnosis was announced, RSL announced the outright purchase of Plata's contract and signed him to a five-year deal. Under the still-unknown guidelines of Major League Soccer's new Collective Bargaining Agreement — yet to officially be ratified — Plata is one of RSL's three Designated Players, along with captain Kyle Beckerman and forward Sebastian Jaime.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani