Ballou and Taïder could feature against Columbus, Toye’s status unclear
The Montreal Impact gets set to take on the Columbus Crew SC this Wednesday at 7:30pm, continuing its busy stretch of games until the season comes to an end on November 8.
The Crew, sitting first in the Eastern Conference at the moment, will certainly prove to be a difficult opponent for Thierry Henry’s men, who will be eager to build on their performance last Saturday against the Chicago Fire. And they might be able to do so with a few returns in the roster.
Although their status remained uncertain, Saphir Taïder is on the right path and could be named on the team sheet tomorrow, whereas Mason Toye, the Impact’s new striker, has not been ruled out but is not at his physical best. Quioto, on the other hand, was not ruled out either, but chances seem slim for the Impact’s leading goalscorer to make his return.
“I don’t think Romell [Quioto] will be available,” said Impact head coach Thierry Henry. “Saphir [Taïder], there are chances he returns. Mason [Toye] needs to do more work from a physical standpoint. It’s been a while since he’s started.”
The Impact head coach also provided an update concerning Ballou Tabla, who suffered an injury in the MLS is Back tournament in July and hasn’t seen playing time since.
“Ballou should be dressed tomorrow,” added Henry. “He still has some work to do from a physical standpoint, obviously, because he’s been on the sidelines for a few weeks now. But we all know what he brings to the team. He can unbalance opponents and that’s what we need right now. I hope he can return as quickly as possible, but we need him at a certain physical level before we considering playing him or starting him. He can beat someone one on one, and that makes the difference at times.”
