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ASN Injury Report

John Brooks Bouncing Back; Chris Pontius to Miss Tour

Nick Kariuki scours the injury news all week long so you don't have to. Here's his latest weekly post, with updates on John Brooks, Eric Lichaj, Steve Cherundolo, and many other U.S. players
BY Nick Kariuki Posted
December 05, 2013
2:25 PM
  • According to Black & Red United, Chris Pontius will miss out on D.C. United’s Indonesian tour this week while he recovers from his left hamstring and sciatic nerve surgery. Pontius should be back to fitness by late January when the MLS camps start. Other ASN top 100 players who are missing out on the tour, which entails friendlies against Arema FC and Persib Bandung, include Perry Kitchen, Nick DeLeon, and Bill Hamid.

  • On November 26, Hertha Berlin’s John Brooks suffered a knee injury and had to undergo an MRI test the following day. The MRI showed no ligament damage. The following Saturday the defender was left out of the squad for the Bundesliga club’s 0-0 draw against Augsburg. The Berliner Kurier reported on Tuesday that Brooks completed all of his running sessions with no more pain in his knee. Coach Jus Luhukay remains apprehensive though, stating this: “We have to wait and see if his knee again has enough stability, if he can fully go into duels again. This will show up this week.”

  • On Saturday, Birmingham City’s Jonathan Spector suffered a setback in the rehabilitation for his thigh injury. The Birmingham Mail reported that Spector has seen a specialist and will be out of action until the end of January. Blues boss Lee Clark told the paper that it is a recurring injury from last season’s Championship play-offs, adding, “We are taking specialist advice on it to see where we go. But certainly, the latter part of January is the best we can hope for.”

  • Eric Lichaj returned from his leg injury to play in Nottingham Forest’s 2-3 defeat at the hands of Reading on Friday. In the same match, Reading’s Danny Williams played his first full game for the Royals since his own lengthy injury. Lichaj played 90 minutes against Millwall on Tuesday—a good sign that he is back to full fitness.

  • Despite reported interest from Everton, Los Angeles Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena has made it clear that Landon Donovan will not be available for loan in January so that he can fully rest his lingering ankle injury. Arena told Galaxy All-Access that he does plan to clear Donovan and fellow American team regular Omar Gonzalez for camp with the U.S. team in January. Donovan has already had two successful loan spells at the Merseyside club.

  • Heath Pearce was dropped by the New York Red Bulls last Wednesday to free up space on the team’s wage bill. Goal.com reports that Pearce’s recovery from his hip surgery is going ahead of schedule, though he may still not be back for the start of the new MLS season. Despite this, he should still get some interest from other clubs in the MLS Re-Entry Draft.

  • Middlesbrough’s Seb Hines was again unable to pass a late fitness test on his recurring hamstring injury and was left out of the squad that won 1-0 against Bolton Wanderers. As of Monday, Hines has been taken off the club’s injury list. He did not make the squad against Derby County yesterday but may feature against Birmingham City this Saturday.

  • On Sunday Hannover captain Steve Cherundolo came on as a stoppage-time substitute in Hannover's 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. The cameo was his first appearance this season.

  • Paul Arriola’s hamstring injury meant he didn't feature in either of the two legs of the Tijuana U-20s championship semifinal against Leon. Leon won the second leg 2-0 and advanced on goal difference.
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