A Quick One

Knowing that the U.S.-Spain game was set to air at 11:30 a.m., the guys went through a quick training session this morning at The Home Depot Center, continuing their preparations for Sunday's game against the Western Conference leading Houston Dynamo.
The session was quick, like many of the club's practices this year, but intense as the guys went through a number of different movements before heading off the field about 90 minutes after the session began.
Dave and Cobi worked with some of the attacking players while Trevor and Richard Gough spent time with the defenders before the two groups joined up for some full team drills and instruction, with Bruce overseeing the whole process.
After missing the last two games with a sprained ankle, Josh Saunders returned to training this week and made his way through the full session with no recurrence of his injury.Dema Kovalenko also returned to the field Tuesday after missing Saturday's game in Oakland with a calf contusion.

However, there was some negative news on the injury front as Julian Valentin has returned to the club after breaking a bone in his foot while on loan with the Cleveland City Stars. We'll have more updates on this later in the week, but Jules has returned to LA and will be evaluated by the club's medical staff.

In brighter news, there was also a welcomed face on the field yesterday as Sean Franklin dropped by after meeting with the training staff. Franklin, who underwent surgery to repair a torn right upper hamstring tendon late last month, caught up with a few guys and took some stick for his bright blue Nike high tops.
Franklin is currently on the Disabled List and will start his rehabilitation process early next month.