New England Soccer Today

Don’t Forget About Me

Revolution center back Stephen McCarthy is fully healthy after picking up an injury during the preseason. (Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)

Revolution center back Stephen McCarthy is fully healthy after picking up an injury during the preseason. (Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In a sense, all Stephen McCarthy can do at this point is train hard and wait his turn.

After suffering a head injury toward the tail end of the preseason, the Revolution’s 2012 defender of the year has watched the back four has jelled into one of the strongest units in MLS – without him.

“It’s hard to get back on the field if you’re not heading the ball,” McCarthy said. “I just started to really use my head last week and it was totally normal, so now it’s just trying to get the timing back.”

So far, so good. Although he didn’t make the gameday 18 in each of the Revolution’s first three matches, he finally saw his name on the team sheet for Saturday’s match against FC Dallas.

Sure, he would’ve welcomed the opportunity to rip off the training top and jump onto the pitch. But that doesn’t mean the man they call “Macca” isn’t close to doing to just that.

“I’ll tell you, I’d have no hesitation putting him in any game,” Revolution head coach Jay Heaps said. “I don’t like to see a player like Macca not getting games he could be getting, but (that’s why) we have competition.”

Despite the injury and lack of playing time, Heaps believes that the way McCarthy’s trained has actually had a direct impact on the starters.

“I think what Macca’s doing actually – with how well he trains and how well he plays – affects how our two center backs are playing,” Heaps said. “Because both center backs now know that Darrius (Barnes) and Macca are willing and able and ready to play.”

That said, McCarthy knows that the wait involved with his recovery hasn’t exactly put him in a favorable spot to reclaim his job. He knows that every time the defense posts a clean sheet, it’s a stronger endorsement of the starters – a group he was once part of not long ago.

Nevertheless, he isn’t going to be bitter about it. First and foremost is his health, to which he has no qualms about taking enough to time to heal rather than rushing back.

“It’s always tough to not play,” McCarthy said. “But you just have to keep staying positive and moving forward. I’m feeling good, though.”

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