Josef Martinez trained with Atlanta United on Friday in what should provide a boost to the team for Sunday’s pivotal game against NYCFC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Manager Frank de Boer said Martinez was about “80-85 percent” Friday and that he will be evaluated again after Saturday’s training session to determine his status for Sunday.
Martinez sustained a minor adductor strain during the end of Monday's training session. The injury forced him to miss Tuesday's 2-0 win against Orlando in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup at Exploria Stadium. De Boer said Tuesday that Martinez likely would miss Sunday's game.
Martinez ranks second in MLS in goals scored (18) and trails leader Carlos Vela of LAFC by four in the race for the Golden Boot. Martinez won it last season with a league-record 31 goals.
Pity Martinez and Ezequiel Barco played as the strikers in the win at Orlando. Barco played 47 minutes against the Lions. De Boer said Tuesday that he didn’t want to play Barco more because he is also recovering from a knee injury, and he was looking ahead to Sunday’s game. De Boer said he thinks Barco can go about 70 minutes Sunday, but the staff will need to see how he’s doing in the game before deciding if they will take him out.
“He’s looking fresh and eager to play,” de Boer said.
Hector Villalba also saw his first action in more than two months when he came on as a sub in the second half against Orlando. De Boer said the trainers and coaching staff are deciding how much Villalba can play. De Boer said Villalba makes so many explosive runs it can take him longer to recover. De Boer said he thinks Villalba can go for 15-20 minutes Sunday.
“You have to be very careful,” he said.
De Boer did point to Wednesday’s game against Club America in the Campeones Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a possible extended run-out for Villalba.
Atlanta United is one point ahead of NYCFC in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Cityzens have two games in hand. Atlanta United trails first-place Philadelphia by three points, but has a game in hand. Atlanta United will play at NYCFC on Sept. 25.
In other injury news, striker Brandon Vazquez didn’t train with the team Friday. De Boer said Vazquez has started individual sessions, but isn’t ready for Sunday.
Fullback George Bello trained with the team for its first few sessions before heading to the facility’s lower fields to train with Atlanta United 2. The 2s will play at Louisville City on Sunday.
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