Greg Vanney provides LA Galaxy injury updates ahead of Revolution friendly

You want LA Galaxy injury updates from training camp? You’re in luck, as head coach Greg Vanney offered a host of them during a Friday call with reporters.

So far nobody has suffered anything serious and Vanney says for the most part the players who have dealt with ailments have either had minor issues, are nearly out of the woods or are sitting out and doing other work as a precaution.

Chicharito was said to be dealing with an issue, but the striker said he scored in a wild 4-4 draw against LAFC behind closed doors this week, and Vanney says the star is fine.

“Javi’s fine, was more precaution for us, he played a little bit and has been training every day, he’ll play tomorrow.”

Another veteran, Jorge Villafaña, was previously slowed down but Vanney has declared him ready to play.

“Jorge, picked up a little bit of a growing issue early but he’s back into the mix, he’ll play some tomorrow,” said Vanney.

Villafaña also spoke to reporters and confirmed that.

“About me, my personal fitness, 100 percent now. Fully in practice today, might have some minutes in tomorrow’s game,” he said.

Giancarlo Gonzalez missed a call-up to Costa Rica’s National Team because of what was reported as a knee injury in the Costa Rican press, but Vanney clarified and said the defender will need more time.

“You mentioned Pipo, has a bone bruise, which is kind of an awkward one so it’s a little bit of just time for that, the pain and the swelling and all that to just get out of it,” he said.

Another newcomer, defender Derrick Williams, is recovering from surgery that the English press said would keep him out of action at former club Blackburn Rovers through the end of the current season. Vanney’s timeline sounds a bit more sped up, and perhaps the player will be in contention for the start of the MLS season on Apr. 18.

“Other than that, we’re doing pretty good, Derrick is close. We hope to have him in the mix here in the next within the next week and starting to progress towards match minutes,” Vanney said.

Yet another defensive newcomer, Oneil Fisher, has been slowed in preseason as well, but Vanney said the fullback was “feeling some hamstring tightness” and the club opted to give him work to make sure he’s physically balanced and doesn’t end up with chronic injuries during the season. The coach didn’t offer a timeline for the player to be in contention for game minutes.

Vanney also said that players away on international duty right now — Sebastian Lletget, Jonathan dos Santos, Efrain Alvarez and Julian Araujo — will not be in contention to play in preseason with the Galaxy until the club goes to Tucson next week, since they will have to clear quarantine upon return to California in the meantime.

“You know I think and hope over the next week that guys will be back into the fold, as well as all the guys coming back so you know and that’s all the caveat with that is that we keep everybody that we currently have in the mix healthy, and then we start to build on the group,” Vanney said.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy are set to face the New England Revolution Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park, at 7 pm PT, with that game scheduled to air on Spectrum Sportsnet.

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