Grabavoy set to miss Chivas match with quad injury

Ned Grabavoy is set to miss Saturday's match — and potentially more — against Chivas USA with a quad strain.

Grabavoy, who is set to be out for 2 to 4 weeks with the injury, will certainly miss Saturday's match and would seem in doubt for Real Salt Lake's match against the Galaxy the following weekend.

After the club's final training session before departing for Los Angeles, Jason Kreis said that Grabavoy's consistency will be missed on Saturday.

"Ned has been really, really good for us, really consistent," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "On both sides of the ball, (the work) he's putting in has been invaluable."

In an interview with Bill Riley on ESPN700, Chris Wingert revealed that Real Salt Lake midfielder Ned Grabavoy has been ruled out with a quad injury.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we have an injury to one of our best players, Ned Grabavoy," Wingert told Riley. "I won't speculate as to exactly how bad it is. I think he went to do the doctors (Thursday) morning, but it was something with his quad. Hopefully he won't be out for too long."

Still have a few more #RSL games to go, and we saw at training today midfielder Ned Grabavoy evidently hurt his quad. No other details yet.

— Michael C. Lewis (@MCLTribune) September 26, 2012

Salt Lake Tribune sports writer Michael Lewis reported that Grabavoy limped out of training on Wednesday.

With Grabavoy out, Real Salt Lake will need to find a substitute as the midfielder misses his sixth match of the season. A string of injuries through 2012, including hamstring, MCL and groin strains, have seen the player with slightly limited action, but with 21 starts under his belt, he is only 16 minutes from reaching his 2011 minutes.

Potential replacements for Grabavoy include Jonny Steele, Luis Gil and Sebastian Velasquez. Last time Grabavoy didn't start - a July 27 win over Vancouver Whitecaps - Gil started in his place, but Steele has found minutes in his spot as well.

Jason Kreis, though, has found Grabavoy's replacement for Saturday.

"We have a couple players who are playing extremely well right now," Kreis said. "I'm actually eager to get the one who's going to play tomorrow his opportunity."

Grabavoy will be hoping to make a quick recovery, with the Utah side coming up against conference foes Los Angeles Galaxy on Oct. 6. Because of a FIFA international break, RSL will then have nearly two weeks off before travelling to Seattle for another vital intraconference tie.