Toronto FC’s injury woes continue.
Coach Ryan Nelsen confirmed that leading scorer Jermain Defoe continues to deal with a nagging groin injury and will miss Saturday’s home game against the New England Revolution.
Nelsen said they hope to have Defoe back for the team’s Sept. 6 home game against the Philadelphia Union, but that the English forward will likely be out until late September. Defoe missed three games earlier this summer with the same injury and only returned to action in last week’s 2-2 draw against the Chicago Fire.
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“Jermain still hasn’t recovered. It looks like it’s going to be a long-term issue with him,” Nelsen told reporters after Friday’s practice.
Nelsen later added: “He’s seeing a specialist at the moment, so fingers crossed that it’ll be short term, but we probably have to plan for a longer-term [absence].”
The loss of Defoe is a big blow for Toronto, as he leads the Reds in scoring with 11 goals this season—although Brazilian Gilberto has scored in four straight games, and fellow forward Luke Moore has played well in recent weeks.
TFC is already missing Warren Creavalle (hamstring), Steven Caldwell (quad strain) and Justin Morrow (hamstring).
Mark Bloom flew back to Florida earlier this week after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child. But the right back is expected to arrive back in Toronto on Friday night and will likely start against New England.
“He’s going to be back. His world has been completely rocked, as many of us know when we’ve had have daughters. He’ll be in really high spirits and probably keen to get onto the field,” Nelsen stated.
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