GK Frei held out with soreness

The Sounders trained this morning and this afternoon will fly to Utah where they will face Real Salt Lake at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Tyrone Mears and Erik Friberg once again were fully involved in training and appear ready for their 2016 MLS debuts after missing the SKC loss with quad and head injuries respectrively. However, goalkeeper Stefan Frei sat out.

“He’s got a little bit of soreness, so we just wanted to hold him out today,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “He’ll travel with us.”

The soreness apparently involves the arm or elbow. And while it’s interesting that Schmid said “travel,” rather than “play,” there was no follow-up question for clarification of status.

If it happens that Frei can’t go, it’s likely that Tyler Miller would get his first MLS start -- on what will be his 23 birthday.

More from the Sounders:

SCHMID

On seeking the first points of the season: You always want to get points. It’s the beginning of the season, so you want to get points, get off that zero as early as possible. I thought we had a good week of training. I think the team is ready. We’ll get after it.

On RSL losing l2-goal ead late in openin game: It’s tough to really say because they were playing 10 against 10 at that point. Salt Lake had had a game at midweek as well. Orlando’s at home, they’re fresh, they’re going to be aggressive. From that standpoint, you watch it, you observe it, you pay attention to it; but it’s not like I’m going to lay a lot of stock into it.

On Rio Tinto’s 4,000-plus elevation after Mexico City’s 7,000-plus: The altitude at Salt Lake has never really bothered us. Even the altitude of Mexico City, the guys dealt with fairly well. It’s not something we worry about or talk about.

FRIBERG　

On returning to action after concussion protocol: Feels great. I don’t have any headache anymore. I’m ready to go.

On playing at RSL: That was a tough away game last year for sure. We beat them at home. It’s a tough place to play, but I think if we play the way we should we have a good chance to win a game.

On seeking first points: Of course we want to win every game. It’s no panic for sure if the points don’t come directly. Of course you want to win games and hopefully we start winning tomorrow.

On Zach Scott likely starting for injured Brad Evans: He’s a great defensive player. He’s going to be fine. Of course we miss Brad. He’s out captain, but Zach is going to be great.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 11:56 AM with the headline "GK Frei held out with soreness."