CARSON, Calif. – Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard are training with the LA Galaxy after skipping Wednesday's night's MLS AT&T All-Star Game, and whether they'll be available for Saturday's Western Conference clash at Colorado (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE) won't be determined until the team has arrived in Denver.
Keane said he expects to play when the Galaxy (9-7-7) seek their first MLS victory away from StubHub Center since a 3-2 comeback victory over the Rapids last August, but Gerrard didn't speak to the media following Thursday morning's session at StubHub Center.
Keane's right shoulder and arm were in a sling following LA's loss last weekend at Houston, which forced him to miss the All-Stars' victory over Tottenham on Colorado's home field.
Gerrard was suffering from a “little bit of a muscle strain,” Bruce Arena reported earlier this week, but LA's head coach would not identify where the injury was located. He appeared to be training fully Thursday, then skipped his planned media session to undergo treatment in the trainers' room.
“We'll see how they're feeling tomorrow,” Arena said of their availability.
“I trained today, a little bit yesterday, just no contact,” Keane said Thursday. “[The shoulder] was fine, it was that we would have had a big risk if I had a fall, so the doctors decided to keep me out [of the All-Star festivities].”
Keane, who scored hat tricks in back-to-back MLS victories July 4 over Toronto FC and July 17 against San Jose, said he felt pain in his shoulder at halftime of their 3-0 defeat at Houston, and then after the game he couldn't raise his arm over his head. He wasn't sure how he injured it.
“It's a little bit stiff, but certainly a lot better than on Saturday,” he said. “I would [expect to play], just depending on how it feels in training the [rest of the week]. But today, I wasn't pushing off people. Just being clever and not getting involved in any contact.”
The Galaxy this weekend will see the return of three players from the CONCACAF Gold Cup – defender Omar Gonzalez and forwards Gyasi Zardes and Alan Gordon – plus left back Robbie Rogers, who last weekend served a suspension for yellow-card accumulation.
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The Galaxy waived goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, who played for Panama in the Gold Cup, and announced Thursday they'd acquired Jamaican netminder Donovan Ricketts, who played for LA in 2009-11, in a trade with Orlando City SC.
Gerrard, who is still building fitness, has appeared in six games since he became eligible July 8, including a US Open Cup loss and International Champions Cup friendlies against Club America and Barcelona. He played into 87th minute of the San Jose win and into the 86th in the fierce heat and humidity of Houston.
“This is a real difficult night for Steven,” Arena said following last weekend's game. “I think the conditions are tough. This is probably one of the few times in his career he's played in these conditions, and in all fairness to him, we probably shouldn't give him these kind of minutes in this environment.”
