New York City Football Club Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing has provided an update on the status of defender Alex Callens.
The defender was substituted during Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Columbus Crew with a knee complaint. The Boys in Blue travel to DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday, but they will do so without Callens after Cushing confirmed the defender is nursing an MCL issue picked up in Columbus.
“We've had Anton back in training, Keaton Parks is still in the same place and obviously the new injury we have is Alex Callens,” Cushing said. "It's a knee issue, it's his MCL. He's with the medical team now and he won't be ready for Miami, but he's in great spirits. I went in the gym this morning and he's working away, he's happy, so I'm leaving him with the medical team and we'll just get regular updates on him. Apart from that everyone else is healthy."
Elsewhere, Cushing was keen to stress that his side must stop the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Alejandro Pozuelo from finding space in the final third if they are to claim all three points.
"When you have a guy like Gonzalo Higuain and also Alejandro Pozuelo next to him you have to stop them," Cushing said. "If you give Pozuelo space he'll find Higuain with his movement, and if you give Higuain space in the box he can be deadly. Nobody wants to play against a Higuain that can be deadly and you definitely don't want to play against a Higuain that has confidence. We know that he's going to be up for it. We know that they're in a moment where they're creating and scoring chances. So we've got to make sure that we're compact and that we deny them space and any time in and around our goal."
