Liam Ridgewell said he is feeling refreshed and strong, having recovered from his blistering return to action last Sunday on the hot turf of Providence Park.
The Portland Timbers team captain is looking forward to being in the middle of the Timbers defense for three games over the next eight days, a stretch he said should further improve his fitness and timing after he missed six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Those games — Saturday at Vancouver, Wednesday at FC Dallas and next Sunday at home against New York City FC — should also improve the understanding along the Timbers backline. The match against Toronto was Ridgewell’s first with Chris Klute on his left. The defending was pretty solid in the run of play, but the Timbers did allow Toronto several prime chances from corner kicks and crosses.
“The only way you’re going to get chemistry and get good play and defending is playing a game,” Ridgewell said. “You can do as much training and as much set-piece stuff during the week as you like, but when you get out there different situations happen.”
Coach Caleb Porter agreed, and is looking forward to having stability in the lineup that has been missing through the first two months of the season.
“We’re getting healthy, and because of that we get more training time with a set group and more game minutes and our play will continue to improve,” Porter said.
Right back Alvas Powell and goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey continue to recover from their injuries. Zarek Valentin has played well in the last three games at right back and Jake Gleeson was the MLS player of the week for his heroics against Toronto.
T2 hosts Real Monarchs
Portland Timbers 2 will take on Real Monarchs at 5 p.m. Saturday at Providence Park. The game time was switched to avoid a conflict with the Timbers afternoon match at Vancouver. Timbers 2 (2-4-1) are one of five clubs with seven points in the United Soccer Leagues Western Conference. The Monarchs (2-2-2) are one of three teams tied for fifth place with eight points. A live webcast will be available at Timbers2.com.
Thorns visit Spirit
The Portland Thorns play the third of four consecutive road matches, visiting the Washington Spirit on Saturday at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. and a live webstream will be available at Thornsfc.com. This match features the top two teams in the early NWSL season, as Washington is 3-0 and Portland 2-0-1. It marks the return of Thorns coach Mark Parsons to the club he previously coached.
Timbers U-23s open season
Five players from Clark County are on the roster of the Portland Timbers under-23 team for the 2016 Premier Development League season. The U-23s open the season with a 7 p.m. Saturday match against Lane United of Eugene at the Tualatin Hills Recreation District in Beaverton.
The U-23s roster was announced on Friday. It includes forward Anthony Macchione (Camas/Akron University), midfielder Foster Langsdorf (Mountain View/Stanford), defenders Peter Prescott (Mountain View/Creighton), defender Niko DeVera (Camas/Akron) and goalkeeper Collin Partee (Union/Utah Valley).
