After solidifying his spot in the starting lineup the past three matches, Minnesota United rookie forward Abu Danladi will likely miss the next several games.
Danladi left the 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy this past Sunday late in the first half with a groin injury. United coach Adrian Heath said Tuesday after practice that the No. 1 draft pick is "day-to-day" but likely out for "two to three weeks minimum."
"We could have done without that, but hey, it is what it is, and now we have to move on," Heath said. "We'll have to wait and see who maybe steps up."
Danladi took the place of midfielder Johan Venegas in the starting 11, and Venegas came on as his replacement after the injury.
While the Galaxy contingent had some strong words about the turf at TCF Bank Stadium, including Jelle Van Damme calling it "the worse field [he's] ever played on in this league," according to the Los Angeles Times, Heath said the Loons weren't blaming the pitch for the injury. The Galaxy endured several injuries Sunday, the most severe being a broken leg for midfielder Baggio Husidic.
"It's good turf, but it's turf after all," Heath said. "We've got ourselves a good home. They look after us, and that's what it is until we get our own stadium going with grass on it. That's where we're going to play.
"We went through it in Orlando. We had two or three years at the Citrus Bowl," Heath said. "You can complain all you want, and it's nice for [the Galaxy]. It's all right for them. The StubHub Center [is a] great facility. Until we've got that, [TCF is] where we're going to play. And we'll certainly not use it as any excuse."
The coach also had a quick comment about what to do about his players not finishing their goal-scoring chances, as United had 22 total shots on Sunday but just one goal.
"It's one of the things that you have to be really careful with forwards, to continually talk about putting them under pressure about scoring goals, because then it can become an issue and a mental thing," Heath said. "Having been through it myself, you're best just getting on and letting them come through it. If we keep creating the number of chances that we did on Sunday, then we'll win more games than we lose."
United also had another trainee at practice Tuesday, this one a friend of center-back Francisco Calvo from Costa Rica. Midfielder Rasmus Schuller trained separately after re-injuring his hip flexor late last week.
