Injury report: Plata listed as questionable, joining Maund, Glad, Schuler

News that might have eluded all of us yesterday is this particularly discouraging injury report: Joao Plata has been listed as questionable with a hip bruise.

That’s according to the official match preview from Real Salt Lake, and frankly, it’s a little bit of a surprise this hasn’t come up sooner. It may just as well be a new development, but it’s still a bit of an issue.

There is, of course, plenty of depth in the attack — but Plata has been heralded as one of Real Salt Lake’s most important players regularly, and there’s good reason for that.

Without him, though, we get a glimpse at our depth up front. Let’s go over some of our options.

• Sebastian Saucedo could get the start, having just come back from U-20 duty. He hasn’t played with the club in over a year after his loan to Veracruz in Liga MX.
• Luis Silva could play on the right, moving Jordan Allen to the left — that’s not the worst idea, but it’s sort of a round-peg-square-hole scenario.
• Ricardo Velazco has already played once this season in a cameo against Toronto FC. He’s a quality like-for-like replacement in terms of position, but he’s certainly not as experienced. I’d like to see him start, all the same.

Real Salt Lake’s lineup will certainly be an interesting one — but before you panic too much, remember that it’s only the second game of the season.