The lingering effects of a knee sprain have tempered David Accam's torrid start to the 2016 MLS season, and Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic has every intention of ensuring the Ghanaian winger is fully recovered before re-inserting him into the team.
"I’ve already said how important he is for our team, and that’s why we are very careful with the progress and his recovery," Paunovic told reporters Tuesday. "There are two parts that mark the pace of his recovery, those are the nature (of the injury) and himself. He has to feel comfortable to start training with the team. When he doesn’t have any pain, it will be ready, but I don’t think we are in that phase."
Accam, who did not train fully on Tuesday, has missed three straight matches since opening 2016 with two goals and an assist in his first two matches. The Fire have earned a win and two draws in his absence, but would gladly welcome Accam's pace and attacking ability when the Montreal Impact (3-2-0, 9 points) visit Toyota Park on Saturday (4 p.m. CT, CSN Chicago Plus).
"As I said before, being so important, it’s tricky because we want him as soon as possible, but we also don’t want to push him to make the injury worse," Paunovic said. "So far, he’s improving well, but still we are not sure he is going to be ready for this game.”
