The Fire held a brief training session Monday morning, going through several full-team drills before taking off for San Jose, where they’ll play the Earthquakes on Wednesday night.
A few notes from the abbreviated practice:
1) Castillo stays home
Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos told reporters on Monday that Designated Player Nery Castillo will not travel with the team to San Jose. The Mexican international, who did not take part in training Monday, is suffering from a left quad strain that kept him off the game-day roster for Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Seattle.
2) Ljungberg, Segares and Ristic questionable
Freddie Ljungberg, Gonzalo Segares and Bratislav Ristic all missed training on Monday. All three players will travel to San Jose with the club, but their status remains uncertain.
Each player started Saturday’s match against Seattle. Ljungberg and Ristic played the entire 90 minutes and didn’t seem to have much trouble during the match. Segares had to be subbed out in the 58th minute after suffering what the Fire are calling a lower extremity injury.
Chicago train again on Tuesday in San Jose. All three players will be re-evaluated then.
3) Kinney, Watson-Siriboe to play; Robinson to start at center back
De los Cobos said that rookie defenders Steven Kinney and Kwame Watson-Siriboe will play on Wednesday night.
Kinney missed the Fire’s last two matches with a left quad injury. He participated in full training on Monday and will likely start at right back against the Quakes.
Watson-Siriboe will likely make his second consecutive start at center back against San Jose. The big rookie showed well against Seattle, and de los Cobos said Monday that he will likely pair Watson-Siriboe with Dasan Robinson in the central defense.
De los Cobos also mentioned that it's possible that rookie midfielder Corben Bone could see time against the Earthquakes.
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
