TORONTO — Toronto FC defender Nana Attakora missed training for the second day in a row on Tuesday after injuring his thigh late in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Sporting Kansas City.
That was expected. But having forward Maicon Santos sit out most of the workout was a little more surprising.
While Attakora (pictured above) was not at Toronto FC’s training session at Cherry Beach, Santos was there and in uniform but sat on the side for nearly the entire session with a mild leg injury.
Head coach Aron Winter dismissed Santos’ injury as minor, but he said he's not sure about Attakora’s status for Saturday’s away game against the LA Galaxy.
“With Maicon, it’s nothing,” Winter said. “It’s just some little pain.”
The injury situation with Attakora is still developing. He played well at center back on Saturday after he replaced Adrian Cann, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. Attakora came out of the match in the 89th minute with the injury and was replaced by 18-year-old Doneil Henry. Now it is wait-and-see for Attakora.
“We have to be careful,” Winter said. “We’re waiting until Saturday to see how he is.”
TFC are likely to receive a boost vs. the Galaxy as forward Alan Gordon (out since the beginning of May with a groin injury) and midfielder Jacob Peterson (who has missed two games with a hamstring injury) appear set to return. Both have been training well.
Tuesday was Toronto’s final training session at home before traveling to Los Angeles on Thursday. They will be without midfielder Julian de Guzman and defender Dicoy Williams, who are playing for Canada and Jamaica, respectively, in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Among those missing for the Galaxy will be Landon Donovan, who is representing the United States in the same tournament.
“It’s not only the Gold Cup — we are now in the situation [with injuries to] Adrian and Nana now,” Winter said. “It’s a pity, but those things can happen. ... At this moment, with all those players missing, your roster is also small and you also have to try some new players.”
TFC have a busy schedule following Saturday’s match, with a game at New England on June 15 before playing Seattle at BMO Field on June 18. Though they have just one point from their past two home matches — a 6-2 loss to Philadelphia and Saturday's draw with Sporting — they have been trying to take positives from their most recent result.
“The most positive is that we worked together hard,” Winter said. “We didn’t give anything away, but on the other hand we [didn’t score] because we were missing a lot of players.”
