FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It was clear when Jose Goncalves walked off the field on Sunday afternoon that he was in considerable pain. How much that pain persists will likely determine whether he’s available for Saturday night’s meeting with the Chicago Fire.
The New England Revolution captain suffered a rib injury in the late stages of last weekend’s loss to the LA Galaxy and required assistance as he was led to the locker room before the final whistle.
Goncalves was evaluated by doctors on Monday and after assessing the extent of the injury, head coach Jay Heaps said the 30-year-old center back could be in contention for this weekend’s game.
“It’s about where his pain threshold is. It was a pretty painful injury,” Heaps said on Tuesday. “I think over the next couple days we’ll see if he’s available for Saturday, but he’s not ruled out.”
If the Revolution do have to replace Goncalves in the lineup, Heaps has multiple options. Darrius Barnes, Sambinha, Je-Vaughn Watson and London Woodberry are all capable of partnering Andrew Farrell in central defense.
“It seems like we’ve got a lot of guys who can step in,” said Farrell. “If Jose’s not good to go, someone’s got to step up and we’ve got to get three points on the weekend.”
It was Watson who shifted into the middle when Goncalves missed the 2-2 draw with Orlando City SC on April 17 – the only game that hasn’t featured a Goncalves-Farrell partnership this season – and the versatile Jamaican will be prepared to do the same should he be called upon again on Saturday.
“I look at it with an open mind of where I’m going to play on the field,” Watson said. “It’s up to the boss whether he’s going to come to me and say, ‘Je-Vaughn, I want you to play center back or right back or left back.’
“The task is not too big because we’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m just playing the next game. Anything to help New England get three points, I’m willing to do.”
Davies “probably a week or two away” as he recovers from groin injury
Chris Tierney wasn’t the only player to return to the training field this week as Charlie Davies was also present at the Revolution’s practice sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While Tierney was a full participant in training, Davies is still limited to fitness work on the side as he continues to recover from the groin injury that’s sidelined him for the past two games.
Davies isn’t expected to be available for this weekend’s meeting with the Fire, but he’s optimistic that he’ll begin easing his way back into training sessions next week.
“Charlie’s probably a week or two away,” Heaps said.
