FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps must once again cope without the services of Chad Barrett as he assesses his thin forward corps ahead of Saturday's match in Seattle (4 pm ET, Univision Deportes, MLS Live), but help could be coming in the form of last season's team-leading scorer, Saèr Sëne.
The veteran Barrett remained rooted to the bench as an unused substitute in the 1-0 defeat to FC Dallas on March 30 with a left hamstring strain, and although he received extra time to recover from the complaint with the bye last weekend, he is not expected to feature at CenturyLink Field after he was listed as out on the Revolution's injury report this week.
Barrett's projected absence leaves Heaps somewhat short of natural forward options. Versatile winger Ryan Guy partnered Jerry Bengtson up front against FCD, but his place could come under threat if Heaps opts for a 4-2-3-1 setup away from home or slides Diego Fagundez back into his natural role after a positive display on the left against the Western Conference leaders.
Have Revolution players in your fantasy team? Check out the team-by-team injury breakdown for Week 7
The recovering Sène (above, left), who posted a team-high 11 goals in 2012, could also add to Heaps' options and is pressing for a first appearance of the season after being upgraded to questionable in midweek, but his ability to contribute at this stage remains in some question. If Sène does feature during the match, then it would mark his first appearance since undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee last September.
Heaps must also check on the health of Matt Reis (questionable – left knee irritation) and Juan Toja (questionable – left knee irritation) before naming his starting XI.
The presence of a few lingering knocks may complicate matters within the squad, but Reis said he and his teammates must fight through the pain in order to bolster the Revolution's chances of claiming a result against a winless Sounders FC side.
“Unfortunately, for a lot of the guys who are injured, the best thing to do is to not do anything,” Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said. “Unfortunately, we don't have the time to do that. We have to work through things and try to get out there. We may not be 100 percent, but we have to get out there and do it.”
