Injury Report: No New Problems for NYCFC

Mark Booth

Only Connor Brandt and Shannon Gomez are on New York City FC’s injury report for Sunday’s MLS Playoffs showdown.

Andrea Pirlo is not named among those missing the match against Toronto following his return to training this week.

The Italian missed the first leg at Toronto with a tightness in his calf and the 37-year and now it remains to be seen if he will ready to make the XI or the matchday squad for Sunday.

Elsewhere, Ronald Matarrita and RJ Allen have both shaken off minor ailments to return to full training this week, while Frank Lampard has confirmed that he’s fit to play the 90 following his injury troubles.

Patrick Vieira said on Wednesday: “We just have to keep working on Andrea and see how he progresses day after day.

“Everybody else is fit. Frank did the full session today. The only one that wasn’t here was Andrea. RJ [Allen] and Ronald [Matarrita] just took part in the first part of the training session, but what is really good is that everybody wants to play the game.”

Toronto have a fully fit squad to choose from but there a number of players on both sides walking a suspension tightrope.

For NYCFC, Jack Harrison, Maxime Chanot, Mikey Lopez, Federico Bravo and Frank Lampard all know that a yellow card in this next match will result in a suspension for any prospective Eastern Conference final.

Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Armando Cooper are all in the same boat for our visitors.