Ahead of a road test at Toronto FC on Saturday night (coverage on CSN Chicago at 6 p.m. CT), the Chicago Fire are getting healthy to a level that they haven’t enjoyed since preseason.
In a conference call on Tuesday afternoon, head coach Veljko Paunovic addressed his players regaining their fitness and how they could factor this weekend.
“We actually have everyone full-go,” he said. “We had every single player in training today. (Midfielder Matt) Polster is recovered. He’s cleared. (Midfielder) Collin Fernandez, (Midfielder) Arturo (Alvarez), everyone is back. The only player that is in the last phase of recovery is (defender) Patrick Doody, and he should be ready during this week. He should be full-go too. We’re very happy and we really appreciate that we can have all of our players healthy.”
Toronto FC is dealing with an injury list of their own, which includes midfield stalwarts Michael Bradley and Will Johnson as well as forward Jozy Altidore and GK Clint Irwin. While Toronto FC works through their depth to fill those gaps, Paunovic’s focus remains solely on his team and its preparation for the road challenge ahead.
“We are focused only on our team,” he said. “We are focused on our players. We want to be the best we can be for that game and of course we want to win that game. Every game is another opportunity now on the road, another opportunity to break down that negative record that we had in the last couple of years. We will focus on our team we will do our best. We will prepare and we really wish for the next game to be successful for us.”
In addition to having his full roster to choose from for the first time in months, the Fire will be boosted by the inclusion of attacker Michael de Leeuw. The Dutchman, who has been training with the team since his arrival in Chicago in early June, will be eligible to play his first MLS game on Saturday.
“Michael is in his last week of pre-season in preparation for the competition,” Paunovic said. “He’s doing very well. He will be for sure in the roster for the next game and we’ll see how many minutes and how we’re going to manage his load for this game.”
How exactly de Leeuw fits into Paunovic’s scheme remains to be seen, but his presence gives the team some newfound options up front.
“We’re working on that,” he said. “It’s good for us to have options. We will use all of our resources offensively to improve our performance in attack.”
The Fire kick off in Toronto on Saturday (July 9) at 6:30 p.m. CT with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. CT on CSN Chicago.
