Although it was expected, Tata Martino confirmed to media members at Thursday’s training that both Ezequiel Barco and Franco Escobar will not play on Saturday against Minnesota United. Neither player participated in a practice this week.
“They’re continuing their recovery process, but they’re not ready yet,” said Martino. “They’re progressing well. I don’t want to throw a specific return date out there, but they’re doing well.”
In fairness, Barco was always a bit of a longshot to play this weekend with his original recovery timetable being set at 4-6 weeks and this week being the fourth since his diagnosis.