KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Stephane Auvray will miss 10 to 14 days after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Friday.
Auvray, a defensive midfielder signed this offseason, started the first six games of the year for the Kansas City Wizards before nagging issues with his knee forced him to undergo the procedure.
The surgery is not expected to keep Auvray off the practice field for more than two weeks. Along with this Sunday’s game against the Columbus Crew, he could miss the Wizards’ games against Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC.
Second-year midfielder Graham Zusi stepped into Auvray’s starting spot last weekend against Chicago and gave a solid performance. Zusi was given the responsibility of delivering service on some corner kicks and dead-ball situations in his first start of 2010.
“He came in and did some good things,” assistant coach Zoran Savic told MLSsoccer.com. “For it being his first game of the year, he got himself in some good positions a couple times. We thought he could fired a shot or two a little bit quicker or a little bit sooner.”
Though Auvray’s injury will force Kansas City to utilize their depth, Davy Arnaud is slowly working his way back from his own knee injury.
Arnaud was listed as questionable prior to last week’s game against the Fire and wore a sleeve around his left knee during the match, but the strain shouldn’t keep him off the field anytime soon.
“I’m good to go,” Arnaud said. “It’s going to be sore for a little while with that kind of injury. It will nag a little bit but nothing that’s going to keep me out of any games for sure.”
Espinoza’s absence opens opportunities
With Kansas City’s deepest bench in years at his disposal, manager Peter Vermes has plenty of options.
For the immediate future those options won’t include left back Roger Espinoza, who is with the Honduran national team in preparation for the World Cup. Luckily for Vermes, there isn’t a lack of suitable replacements when it comes to filling the gap.
Michael Harrington, who has played on both sides of the field in the past, could switch from right to left back with Jonathan Leathers sliding into the spot opposite him. Matt Besler is also an option to play outside after logging time there last season as a rookie or to spell Pablo Escobar alongside Jimmy Conrad.
“We’re tinkering with a couple different things,” Savic said.
Ferguson speaks on Kansas City, growth of MLS
A couple years ago, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson might have had a hard time picking Kansas City out on a map.
Ferguson said that the fact that the Red Devils are coming to Kansas City this summer, and playing the Wizards no less, is a clear signal that MLS is expanding its influence all over the United States.
“You can start to see that the professional side in MLS is really starting to show itself,” Ferguson said at a press conference promoting the team’s tour. “That’s reflected in the fact that we’re going to Kansas. Four years ago, I never considered Kansas. It tells you that the word is spreading and the game is spreading.”
