FRISCO, Texas -- The Revolution brought 29 players to Frisco - including Marshall Leonard, who is back in training but remains on the season-ending injury list following achilles surgery - and the entire party was on the Pizza Hut Park practice field on Friday afternoon.
Following warm-ups and stretches, however, there was a scare for New England when Avery John was forced to miss the rest of the session.
"Yesterday, I picked up a little strain so I am just trying to be a bit cautious and will see how it goes tomorrow," said John.
John appeared to have an ice pack on his left knee, though head coach Steve Nicol said that it was his toe that was the problem, adding that his defender was "fine" and sitting out just as a precaution.
The loss of John would be a big blow to the Revs, particularly given his aerial ability and physical game, which will be much needed against the equally combative Brian Ching of Houston.
Other players about whom the Revolution have had injury concerns include Clint Dempsey, Daniel Hernandez and Steve Ralston. All three men came through a relatively light training session unscathed. Speaking after the session, Hernandez said that, with such a big game on the horizon, he wasn't about to let in jury hold him back now after it affected so badly his whole season.
"I think I am ready to go, ready to start," Hernandez said. "I have been playing with pain all year so, at this point, I am ready to play through whatever I have and is wrong with me.
Family ties: Nicol is set to come up against the son of his former coach at Liverpool, with Paul Dalglish a likely starter for Dynamo on Sunday. Nicol is well aware of the threat the younger Dalglish poses and joked on Friday that he wished it was his dad that was taking the field.
"It's a pity it's his dad that's not playing, it would be a bit easier for us!" Nicol said. "I look forward to seeing (Paul) on Sunday. I don't know (if Kenny is coming over); he can kind of get in your head when he wants to so I'm keeping out of his way."
Viva Mexico: Nicol was also asked by members of the South American media about the role that Mexican striker, Jose Manuel Abundis, might play on Sunday.
"He has fitted in pretty well. We got him to score goals and, in the games he has played, he's had opportunities. We know that if we need him to score goals then we can count on him. For me as a coach, it's great to have so many players that have experience and, obviously, Abundis has as much as any of the players on our team."
Filling in: The Revolution goalkeepers are being put through their paces this weekend by Peter Simonini, head men's coach at Bentley College. The side's full-time goalkeeper coach, David Vanole, left the club during the summer.
Simonini played professionally as a goalkeeper for the New England Tea Men in 1979. Following the franchise's move to Jacksonville, in 1983 he was the MVP of the American Soccer League. Simonini was previously the goalkeeping coach of the Revolution from 1996-99 and 2003-04.
Testing the new ball: Friday saw the Revs get their first experience of playing with the silver ball that will make its competitive debut on Sunday. The adidas +Teamgeist winner ball is a variation on the ball that was used throughout the MLS season and, having used it in the swirling Texas wind on Friday, Jeff Larentowicz said he felt it was a lot different to that which he was used to.
"It feels a lot different," he said. "It is softer to the touch on the outside and it seems like there is a bit more padding. It is stickier and it seems to get caught on your foot. It would take a week to get full comfortable with it. The wind doesn't help either."
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
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