TORONTO — Terry Dunfield is two weeks away from returning to full fitness and game action for Toronto FC.
“The knee is feeling a lot better. I’m doing really well and I should be back in two weeks,” Dunfield told sportsnet.ca on Monday evening.
The veteran Canadian midfielder was a starter in each of TFC’s first four games of the Major League Soccer season before suffering a knee injury in training on April 2. Since then Dunfield, a 31-year-old native of Vancouver, has missed the Reds’ last three matches.
“It’s not a good one,” Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen told reporters a few days after the injury took place. “It could be short-term or a long one, we just have to get the expert advice from the orthopedic surgeon and go from there.”
Last Tuesday, Nelsen confirmed Dunfield suffered a PCL tear and partial meniscus tear in his knee and that he expected the midfielder to miss another four weeks. The expectation was that after the four weeks were up that Dunfield would be further evaluated by doctors to determine his status.
Dunfield said his recovery is going according to plans and that he expects to be able to play in two weeks time if needed.
He hinted that he could travel with the team and be available to play in TFC’s pair of road games against Colorado (May 4) and San Jose (May 8), but suggested he’ll likely hold off until May 18 when the Reds host Columbus.
“There’s a 10-day break after the game against San Jose, so we’re probably going to play it safe and take the extra time,” Dunfield said.
Before heading out west, Toronto hosts the Montreal Impact on Wednesday in the first leg of the Canadian club championship semifinals. Then it hosts New York in MLS action on Saturday before flying to Montreal for next Wednesday’s semifinal second leg.
Just ran into Dunfield in my ‘hood as I was walking home from work. Said he’s about 2 weeks away from returning, likely after SJ game. #TFC
— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) April 22, 2013