Michael Bradley out of Toronto FC's lineup with a quad strain

Michael Bradley (right) added to Toronto's injury woes as he will sit against the Rapids with a quad strain. (Vaughn Ridley/AP) Michael Bradley will miss

Liviu Bird | Apr 12, 2014

Michael Bradley out of Toronto FC's lineup with a quad strain /

Michael Bradley (right) added to Toronto's injury woes as he will sit against the Rapids with a quad strain. (Vaughn Ridley/AP)

Michael Bradley will miss Toronto FC’s game on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids due to a minor left quad strain. His absence is just a precaution, and he should be available for next week.

Jermain Defoe is also out of the lineup for the second week in a row with a nagging hamstring injury suffered in a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake in March. Bradley has started all four of Toronto’s games in 2014 to this point, even playing 73 minutes on April 5 after going 90 minutes for the U.S. national team three days prior.

“Bradley had a lot of fatigue injuries from all the travel and the games, the U.S. game and obviously the Saturday game,” Toronto head coach Ryan Nelsen told media during the week. “He’s got a couple little strains. We’re just hoping it’ll settle down and be all right by Saturday.”

He scored in that game against the Columbus Crew, just his second MLS tally of his career. The first came during his initial stint in the league, a game-winning goal for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars that clinched a playoff berth on the last day of the 2005 season.

At Toronto so far, Bradley has proven to be the Reds’ most important player, connecting the defense and attack and remaining active on both sides of the ball. His good club form carried over into his appearance with the U.S. against Mexico on April 2, in which he scored a goal before assisting a second in a 2-2 draw.

Despite injury woes early in the season, Toronto (3-1-0) has showcased its depth. Before the match on Saturday, four players were listed as “out” on the official injury report, while a further four were “questionable.”

As a result, Nelsen had to start another second-choice lineup, with Bradley Orr filling in at center back for Doneil Henry, Kyle Bekker and Jeremy Hall in midfield instead of Bradley and Jonathan Osorio and Dwayne De Rosario filling in at forward for Defoe.

Published Apr 12, 2014

LIVIU BIRD

Liviu Bird is a soccer analyst with more than 20 years of experience in the game. He learned how to play in the streets of Romania before moving to the soccer wilderness of Fairbanks, Alaska, escaping to play collegiately as a goalkeeper at Highline Community College and Seattle Pacific University, where he also earned his B.A. in journalism. Bird played semiprofessionally and had tryouts at professional clubs but hung up his gloves in 2012 to focus on writing and coaching at the youth and collegiate levels. He joined Sports Illustrated in March 2013 as a freelance contributor and has also written for NBC Sports, Soccer Wire, The New York Times, American Soccer Now and the Telegraph (UK).