Charlotte FC midfielder Brandt Bronico and defender Will Cleary are unlikely to travel for Saturday's match at the Portland Timbers, head coach Dean Smith said Thursday.
Smith said Bronico has not trained this week. "He felt it on Saturday again, just during the warm-up, so he's unlikely to travel with us." Bronico did not play in that day's 2-2 draw at the Philadelphia Union.
Cleary did not get into that game either. The next day he started for Crown Legacy FC, the club's second team, in a playoff win and came off in the 75th minute. He has since been sick. "He's had a bit of an illness that's gone around," Smith said. "So he's ill, unlikely to travel at the moment."
Charlotte has 13 wins, nine losses and eight ties, for 47 points, with four regular-season games left. It is fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind fourth-place Chicago Fire FC and one ahead of Philadelphia. Portland is 11th in the Western Conference, and Smith said the Timbers are "fighting for their playoff lives."
Kickoff at Providence Park is 10:30 p.m. Eastern, on Apple TV. The match ends a three-match road trip; Charlotte hosts CF Montréal on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
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