Oba-return week? We’ll see

The Sounders are off the training pitch after a light and splintered day of work. Most of the postgame news involved health and availibility updates heading into a two-game week: Wednesday at Vancouver in CONCACAF Champions League and Sunday at LA back in MLS.

Here’s some of what coach Sigi Schmid had to say:

On if this is the week Obafemi Martins returns: We’ll see. I think he’s getting closer. He went through training today, and each day it’s getting through training and making sure there are no setbacks as we look at the next day. I think this is a week we’ll hoping he can make it back, but we have to go day by day, and we’ll see.

On Marco Pappa timetable: No idea on that. It’s a process that he’s going through. It’s the league’s program and we’ll know when we know.

On Victor Mansaray: He’s coming along OK. He had an injury that kept him out for a little bit so we had to build him up from there. He played 45 minutes with S2 on Saturday and needs to build up his fitness and so forth.

On lineup philosphy for CCL opener: We’ll use a different lineup for sure than we used on Saturday. How much of a difference we’ll decide in the next day or two. … Having four games, you have to finish at the top of your group. Finishing second in your group doesn’t get you through. So at the end of the day, you’ve got to make sure you take care of business, especially in your home games. You’ve got to win your home games and you’ve got to get something on the road.

This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Oba-return week? We’ll see."