Mike Grella made his first appearance since March 19 against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, successfully completing his return from injury.
The midfielder entered the match as a substitute in the 76th minute and played 14 minutes in his return.
“Its not the result I wanted and not the impact in the game I wanted to have, but for me personally its been a pretty long time [since] I’ve been on the field sort of pain free and just thinking about the game,” Grella said.
Grella underwent treatment for his left knee back in late March and missed the last seven matches.
Head Coach Jesse Marsch praised Grella as ‘clever around the goal’ in his first action since the club’s third game of the season.
“[It’s] very good to have Mike back,” Marsch said. “He even helped put together the play for Brad [Wright-Phillips] and that’s what you see with Mike. He can be a part of the solution for sure if we can get him really fit.”
Grella said rehabbing his injury was ‘mentally and physically challenging’ but hopes to ‘play a major part this season.’
“I’m really looking forward to the next couple weeks of training and really getting in top shape, and hopefully being a big part of the team moving forward,” Grella said. “I’m just really excited to sort of get myself going. It’s been a little bit too long.”
