At least of the Seattle Sounders players who exited Sunday’s first leg against Portland will be miss Thursday’s second leg.
Veteran center back Chad Marshall underwent surgery on his right meniscus on Tuesday, ruling him out for the foreseeable future.
Midfielder Cristian Roldan is day-to-day with a hip flexor, per head coach Brian Schmetzer, and he’ll be a game-time decision for the clash at CenturyLink Field.
Even though Marshall is a massive piece in defense for the Sounders, they have Roman Torres in reserve ready to fill the vacancy left by Marshall.
Torres has started one game since August, but the Panamanian carries plenty of experience that should help the Sounders.
Roldan has been a key fixture in the Seattle lineup on the right side of midfield, and he was replaced by full back Waylon Francis in the first half on Sunday.
Schmetzer could opt to keep Francis in the lineup in a more defensive setup, but he also has wingers on the bench, including Harry Shipp, to fill the void in attack.
Seattle is down 2-1 in the semifinal series with Portland, but it only needs a 1-0 victory to advance to the Western Conference final due to the away goals rule.
Shipp has had a great season and probably gets picked
Bawana could step up bigger, but is more risky.
Shame the big oak of Marshall went down with a knee injury. What can you say about Roldan injuring hinself embellishing a dive in the box. With Roldan out the Sounders midfield cannot match up with the Timbers midfield.
Your suggestion of Francis is a terrible idea