Injury list grows for Dallas, Real Salt Lake and elsewhere

Let’s just save some time here and say this:

Everybody is hurt or suspended.

Or maybe it just seems that way. At any rate, there’s a lot of injury news ahead of tonight’s short list of Major League Soccer mid-week matches.

• Houston at New York, 7 p.m. ET
• Real Salt Lake at Chicago, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Seattle at Dallas, 7:30 p.m. ET

We’d all love to see what Chris Rolfe can add to the Chicago Fire. Unfortunately the midfielder / forward remains on the injury shelf, still dealing with an ankle ailment that has kept him from appearing for Frank Klopas’ team. Klopas, at least, will be back from his short suspension, along with center back Jalil Anibaba, for tonight’s contest against Real Salt Lake.

RSL is missing important midfielder Will Johnson, who is serving a one-game suspension. A bigger blow is the absence of goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who has long been steady as the come around Rio Tinto Stadium.

Those sides will get zero sympathy from FC Dallas, where the injury list has gone from ridiculous to preposterous ahead of tonight’s contest in Texas against Seattle. Team officials say center back Ugo Ihemelu, a rock in Dallas’ defense this year, failed a post-game concussion test following Sunday’s loss to Colorado and will miss tonight’s contest.

So in addition to the players out due to longer-range injuries (David Ferreira, Ricardo Villar most prominently), striker Blas Perez and midfielder Daniel Hernandez are suspended, while winger Brek Shea remains questionable with turf toe. Add it all up: as many as seven first-choice FC Dallas men could be sidelined.

An FC Dallas spokesman told me this morning Shea has been fitted with special shoe inserts, along with other equipment adjustments, hoping to get him ready for summer soccer (with Dallas and the U.S. national team.)

Seattle defender Leo Gonzalez is suspended, as well. And who knows when Steve Zakuani might finally get back into first-team soccer?

In New York, Thierry Henry remains sidelined, along with other Red Bulls ahead of tonight’s contest against Houston.