The questions about whether or not Mike Magee’s availability for the Chicago Fire’s match Sunday at Portland continue to swirl after head coach Frank Yallop said Thursday that the reigning MLS MVP was still nursing a hamstring injury.
At the very least, Yallop made clear that the veteran MLS striker is unlikely to start for a side looking for redemption after last Sunday’s season opening loss at Chivas USA.
“Working this week [Mike’s] not really done much up until today he sort of pushed it,” Yallop told reporters Thursday. “We’ll see how he responds to the work he did today, see how he looks tomorrow and then we can make a decision on that.
“For him to start I think will be tough but again we’ve got to see how some of the other guys are looking.”
There was understandable surprise on Sunday when Magee was an unused sub against Chivas USA but Yallop explained the plan all along was only to use his star forward for a maximum of 10 minutes after the hamstring injury first suffered in preseason flared up days before the match.
“I had him on the bench because of his experience,” said Yallop. “He said he was okay at 80 or 90 percent if we needed a goal late but I’d already used all of my subs at the 75th minute because of the fatigue our guys had.”
Yallop used his final substitution on midfielder Logan Pause who came on for Chris Rolfe after the veteran forward began cramping.
Yallop also said that Rolfe’s status for Sunday’s match may be in doubt with the veteran forward suffering from a bruised foot after a knock he took in the match at Chivas. Left winger Dilly Duka is also nursing a high hamstring strain that could limit his minutes on Sunday.
