Photo by Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports 

By RYAN TOLMICH

NEW YORK — As Tony Taylor fell to the ground clutching his leg in the 33rd minute of Sunday’s matchup with the Portland Timbers, he joined New York City FC’s ever-growing list of wounded contributors.

The latest injury crisis, which came amidst Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Timbers at Yankee Stadium, only added to a theme that has defined the club’s opening month and a half of MLS play.

Already missing out on David Villa, Mix Diskerud, Jason Hernandez and Josh Williams, NYCFC continue to be bitten by the injury bug. While obviously frustrated by his team’s inability to stay healthy, head coach Jason Kreis was quick to point out the efforts of his side to push on despite the absence of some of the team’s most important pieces.

“We had five players that were unavailable today due to injury, and that’s a lot at one time,” Kreis said after the loss. “All of it has happened within a week, which is pretty crazy. The players that were called upon tonight to put in a performance and, to show what they were about, stepped forward.

“The morale in the group tonight was very high. They were willing and able to do anything for each other, which is encouraging as well.”

Also encouraging is the prognosis of both Villa and Diskerud, who were injured on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

An NYCFC representative said that the club remains “hopeful” Villa will recover from a slight hamstring issue in time to face the Chicago Fire next week, while Kreis said the injured ankle of Diskerud is something that is hopefully “just a couple of day thing.”

The encouragement and positivity does not extend to Taylor, however, as Kreis said that initial signs are “not good” and that the team expects to hear that the forward’s issues come as a result of knee ligament damage.

Hampered by so many early injuries, the expansion side has seen a wrench thrown into the process of gelling, making it that much harder as teammates begin to acclimate to one another.

With that said, goalkeeper Josh Saunders was quick to praise those that stepped up Sunday, despite the loss.

“You saw the guys that were out there on the field. They worked extremely hard and did extremely well,” Saunders said. “We have a lot of quality. We can absorb some of those injuries, and on a different day the ball bounces our way.”

Saunders’ sentiments were echoed by fullback and fellow veteran Jeb Brovsky. Having seen his share of MLS campaigns, Brovsky says that the team is fully capable of pushing through until the injury bug that has plagued the early season is exterminated.

“It’s a part of the business,” Brovsky said. “Every guy has been there in that season where maybe the bounces haven’t gone your way for this or that reason, whatever it may be.

“Yeah, we know we have injury trouble right now, but we’re certainly not making any excuses as a team and as a club. The bounces just haven’t really been going our way, but we’re keeping the faith that they will go our way in the second half of the season. It all comes back around.”