TUKWILA, Wash. — While the Seattle Sounders will be without one of their main contributors on Sunday in Vancouver against the Whitecaps, another one expects to be back.
Captain Brad Evans has missed the last four matches with injuries to his calf and lower back, but he said on Friday that he expects to be available for selection for Seattle’s final Cascadia match of the season. His return is all the more important after Designated Player Nicolas Lodeiro received a yellow card in Wednesday’s win over the Chicago Fire, his fifth in the last 10 games, and must serve a one-game suspension.
Evans’ last month has been an up-and-down affair with some days better than others. Interim head coach Brian Schmetzer had mentioned repeatedly that Evans was progressing, but his timetable for a potential comeback continued to be pushed back.
The 31-year-old injured his calf in the Sounders’ 4-2 loss to the Portland Timbers on Aug. 28. After the Sounders returned from a bye weekend, Evans began to have lower back spasms. An MRI revealed a strain and he thought trying to come back too quickly set him back.
Evans was a game-time decision for the match against the Fire and said he would have played if it were 100 percent necessary. He didn’t want to jeopardize the rest of the regular season or a potential playoff run for one game, especially since Monday and Tuesday this week were the first times he was at full strength in training since the Portland match.
Despite watching from the sidelines, though, Evans has been impressed with the way his team has played. Seattle is now 6-1-3 since Schmetzer took over and above the playoff line for the first time all season.
“We’ve been battling, our backs are against the wall,” Evans said. “Watching it from above is fun to watch, guys are playing for each other.”
Prior to his injury, Evans had been starting at center back alongside Chad Marshall. But Evans’ injury coincided with the return of Roman Torres from a year-long ACL recovery, and Torres has slid into Evans’ spot at center back, a role Torres will undoubtedly keep.
With Lodeiro out and Clint Dempsey sidelined for the year, Evans assumes to play in the midfield if he does indeed return on Sunday.
“There’s nowhere else to play,” Evans said. “Whatever my role is for the end of the season, you take it in stride…I want to get this team into the playoffs. Whatever my role is, my role is. You can’t be choosy at this point.
“When the team is playing as well as it is, you want to be involved.”
