New York City Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing has confirmed Midfielder Justin Haak is back in contention for Saturday’s trip to Charlotte FC.
The Midfielder missed the midweek draw against FC Cincinnati, having felt the effects of a heavy fixture schedule, but is set to return this weekend.
Speaking ahead of the visit to North Carolina, Cushing shared the latest team news, adding that the game will come too soon for Anton Tinnerholm, who suffered a hamstring injury against D.C. United, with the Defender's comeback needing to be managed carefully.
The Head Coach also revealed Keaton Parks will again be named in the matchday squad but is unlikely to start, while Gedion Zelalem is set to feature with Thiago Martins, Nico Acevedo and Maxime Chanot all suspended.
“The positive is that Justin is back,” he stated. “Justin Haak will be in contention.
“It’s more than likely that Anton will miss out again, and we’ll prioritize Wednesday, and then next Saturday.
“Anton has just gone through the process now of seeing whether we can push him, but we have to be really careful with Anton because we’ve pushed him previously and we lost him to the hamstring.
“It’s a bit different [to Parks’ return] because he’s played regular minutes, and he'd played some regular minutes leading up to the hamstring injury. Once he’s fit, he could start a game but to think that he will go 90 minutes is unrealistic, especially in the types of game [we have]: a Cup Final or a Hudson River Derby.
“It's a real positive that he had two or three games before he had the hamstring injury. We just need to make sure that the hamstring is conditioned.
“Keaton’s not ready to start the game but he’ll definitely be in the squad. We just have to be really strategic with getting Keaton back because of the nature of the injury. We have to get him back to being able to start games as quickly as possible but it’s going to be a process.
“I think anything towards 30 minutes for him will be a huge positive. To think that he can go for a full half after not playing for two months is unrealistic for him so anything towards 30 minutes will be a huge positive, but obviously, where we are in the game will dictate that.
“Gedion is in contention to start the game. It is highly likely that he will start the game because of the nature of Maxi [Moralez] playing a lot of minutes.
“We have to use the squad. We’re in a good place to use the squad because we've had to use our whole roster over the last six, seven games.
“We've had Thiago Martins out, Alexander Callens out so Vuk [Latinovich] has had to go into the game in those moments, and when I say ‘had to go in’, I mean that when we picked our team, there are certain guys in our roster that haven't played regular football – that's the nature of teams.
“In these moments, you have to use your squad and maybe when we're looking at whether they're physically ready, that is a good is a good marker of our training program.
“In the New England game, when we put Andres [Jasson] in, and we put Vuk in, and when we put Justin in the Cincinnati game, of course, they're inexperienced and they don't have so many MLS games in them but physically, it’s a testament to the way that they train, and their attitude, and their mentality because I have no problem in putting those guys in when the squad suffers with injuries and suspensions.
“With not being able to start Keaton and with Alfredo Morales being injured, it’s a good test of our roster that guys like Andres and Vuk, who went in for the New England game, and now Gedion, can go in and we’re fully confident they can put in performances that can get us results.”
Saturday’s game marks only the second time the two sides have met with Charlotte having run out 3-1 winners in August’s meeting at Red Bull Arena.
As Cushing locks horns with former NYCFC and Manchester City colleague and coach Christian Lattanzio, there will be an intriguing meeting of minds in the technical area with both teams favoring possession-based gameplans.
The New York Head Coach hopes his side can once again control the play against the Crown but this time, turn their dominance into goals.
“We know the type of team they are from watching them and also from knowing the coach really well,” he added.
“They want to be a possession team, they want to build the game with the ball, and dominate the ball.
“That was a huge objective of ours as a team: not to allow them to get into any rhythm at Red Bull Arena, and I thought we’d done that pretty well.
“Of course, the first goal was disappointing. The second goal was from a long-ball thrown – we don’t pick up the second ball and we’re open – and then there was the penalty.
“To have restricted them to 35% of the ball, and to have pressed them high, and have stopped them getting into their rhythm, I think it was good for the most part and it’s a real objective of ours again, going into the game.”
