Montero, Ljungberg expected to return Saturday
Sounders FC attackers set to play at home against Wizards
Both players were limited in practice Tuesday -- Ljungberg was a question mark with a left knee injury while Montero missed the trip to Toronto because of illness. Nevertheless, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid was happy to see two of his prized attackers in training.
"Fredy Montero was feeling better today. He is still a little bit under weather, but he's feeling better," Schmid said. "In the four-v-four plus two he was good. In the scrimmage you could tell he was getting a little bit tired. But he was OK.
"Freddie Ljungberg -- we wanted to see what he could today. So he went through the beginning part of it. Felt a little bit sore. So we just want to be a little cautious today, then we'll see how it is tomorrow."
Ljungberg suffered the knee injury in the 73rd minute of the match against Toronto. Running at full stretch to connect with a Brad Evans back heel, Ljungberg came together with Toronto's Adrian Serioux and went to the turf clutching his left knee. But to the relief of Seattle fans, the Swede was able to return to the field briefly before being subbed off in the 78th minute.
"The knee is sore. It was quite swollen after the game, but the swelling has gone down every day," Ljungberg said. "I just did some running today and we will see tomorrow how it feels."
Even with the injury, Ljungberg was upbeat at practice Tuesday and ran laps while his teammates went through drills. He said he felt strong against Toronto -- his first start with Sounders FC.
"Since I've had the hip surgery, everything feels great. I feel strong," Ljungberg said. "I played like a striker as well so I didn't have to run as much.
"I came off with 10 minutes to go just as a precaution. Especially with the knee swollen, it was the right thing to do. We will have to see if the swelling goes away. But if the swelling goes away, yeah, I expect to play on Saturday."
Montero also got back on the practice pitch after missing the team flight to Toronto with the flu. Montero looked like his usual self in a short-sided scrimmage, scoring a couple goals on backup goalkeeper Ben Dragavon.
Schmid is also cautiously optimistic about seeing his young attacker back in the starting lineup.
"If he's healthy and so forth and feels good, I would expect him to start," Schmid said.
With both players in the lineup, Seattle might be able to add to its league-leading seven goals scored this weekend. Montero's three goals are tied for the league lead, while Ljungberg opened his account just 15 minutes into his first start against Toronto FC.
Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
