121113_isi_cherundolo_usmntpm(r)062320101075 Perry McIntyre/isiphotos.com
ASN Injury Report

Cherundolo, Brooks, Fabian Johnson Return to Action

The news is mostly positive on the American soccer injury front, with some key players back on the pitch and a few others—including Stuart Holden and Seb Hines—making steady progress.
BY Nick Kariuki Posted
December 11, 2013
1:55 PM
  • Steve Cherundulo is fit and back in the Hannover squad, but still has to wait to play his first full league game. The veteran right back was on the bench for Hannover’s 4-2 loss away at Stuttgart and should be available for selection when his team hosts FC Nürnberg this Saturday.

  • DHNet and Het Laatste Nieuws reported Monday that Anderlecht’s Sacha Kljestan was treated for pre-cancerous spots on his face. All reports indicate that the issue was detected and treated at an early stage and is resolved. Kljestan attributes the spots to a childhood playing soccer in the California sun without protecting his skin. The procedure did not prevent him playing in Anderlecht’s Champion’s League tie away at Olympiakos, where Sacha scored a goal in his side’s 3-1 defeat. Anderlecht finished last in its group and will not advance to the knockout stages or the Europa League.

  • Seb Hines was on the Middlesbrough bench but did not see any action in the team’s 2-2 draw with Birmingham City. Hines has struggled this season with a hamstring injury but has been cleared to play by the club since December 2. Boro next face Brighton and Hove Albion at home this Saturday.

  • Stuart Holden is still on track for an early 2014 return to the Bolton Wanderers side. Last week, Eurosport reported that the midfielder could return to training in the new year. Holden recently wrote on his Twitter feed that he is excited to be travelling back to the UK this coming weekend.

  • On Saturday, Fabian Johnson made a late appearance for Hoffenheim to help his team to a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Johnson had picked up an abductor injury in training on Monday and could not train again until the day before the game. Hoffenheim face a big test this Saturday when it hosts Jurgen Klopp’s Borrusia Dortmund.

  • John Brooks returned to the Hertha Berlin starting XI after his knee injury on November 26. He played the full match against E. Braunschweig in Hertha's 2-0 victory. Braunschweig provided the initial attacking pressure in the match, which Brooks helped to stave off by deflecting a shot wide at the end of a promising counter attack.

  • FC Nürnberg’s Timothy Chandler was subbed off after 61 minutes against Mainz in what appeared to be a minor knock. Chandler had been an attacking threat on the right after his team opened the scoring, at one point almost causing Mainz left back Zdenek Popesch to score an own goal. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving Nürnberg still winless for the season.

    Nick Kariuki's ASN Injury Report appears Wednesdays on American Soccer Now. Follow him on Twitter.
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