06-18-2019, 12:51 AM
TORONTO -- Striker Jermain Defoe says he is back to 100 per cent and ready to play for Toronto FC -- and England. "Its been really frustrating because when you get off to a good start, you just want it to continue as long as possible," said Defoe, who scored three goals in his first two games in Major League Soccer before being sidelined with a hamstring strain in late March. "But it happens. Its football, you get little niggles. Luckily enough it wasnt something that was too serious. It was just a case of resting and doing your rehab stuff. But yeah it feels fine now. I feel 100 per cent. Ive worked really hard. So maybe Ill come back stronger than I was before, which is important for the team." Saturdays game against the visiting New England Revolution (3-3-2) will mark five weeks since Defoe walked off the field favouring his hamstring in the 61st minute of a 3-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. Thanks to a bye, he only missed three games with Toronto (3-3-0) going 1-2-0 in his absence. Defoe, speaking to reporters after practice Tuesday, rubbished the suggestion that the injury layoff may affect his chances at making Englands World Cup squad. England manager Roy Hodgson plans to name his 23-man roster on May 13. "I missed three games. It happens in football, players get injured," said the 31-year-old Defoe, who has won 55 caps for England. "But if you miss three games and that changes the fact that you could, I dont know, go to a tournament, thats crazy." Manager Ryan Nelsen says he has not heard from the English camp. "Not yet," he said. Defoe, for one, does think much talk is needed. "I dont feel like I need to sell myself to anyone because Ill just let my football do the talking. Ive done that since I made my professional debut at 17 ... Im sure the manager knows what I can do." Defoe said not only is he 100 per cent physically, he feels stronger than he did before. Toronto FC officials have said privately they had to put the brakes on Defoe, who has acknowledges he is not known for his patience during injury layoffs. Defoes final days at Tottenham were marred by another hamstring injury. "Its a case of just getting it (the hamstring) strong again. Maybe I didnt do that before," he said. "I think now Ive really given it time to heal," he added. Defoe said his style of plays lends itself to hamstring issues -- "sometimes I go from a standing still position to get up to full speed." Toronto has had a spate of hamstring injuries this season with midfielders Jonathan Osorio, Alvaro Rey and Dwayne De Rosario all missing action. The club has said having to train longer than usual on artificial turf because of the harsh winter has not helped matters. Ironically it would have liked to have been able to practise under the bubble on turf Tuesday because of a downpour. But with the bubble about to come down, the lighting system had been dismantled and so they endured the rain outside. The good news is that the walking wounded are returning after the bye week. Osorio is already back in action while Nelsen says Rey, De Rosario and centre back Doneil Henry (knee) are "very close" to returning. Nelsen says the only player definitely out for this weekends game is midfielder Jeremy Hall (Achilles). Striker Bright Dike (Achilles) is also a long-term injury absence. Star U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley, who has been nursing a variety of ailments, is also doing well. Injuries have hampered Nelsen in blending his squad, which features three new designated players in Defoe, Bradley and Brazilian striker Gilberto and as many as five other new starters since last season. Two weeks ago against Colorado, he was unable to assemble a fully healthy bench. While Toronto has given up seven goals in six games, it has scored just six with Defoe accounting for three of them Toronto is getting healthy at the right time. After three games in April, Toronto has six in May including a home-and-away series with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Amway Canadian Championship. Three of the four league games are at home so May represents a chance to harvest points. With Bradley, Brazilian goalie Julio Cesar and possibly Defoe joining their national teams at the end of May ahead of the World Cup, points may be harder to come by later. While Defoe has not yet heard from Hodgson, Cesar says he reached out to Luiz Felipe Scolari to invite him to Toronto after reading that the Brazil coach had visited players in Europe. "I was a little bit jealous," Cesar said with a smile. Custom Football Jerseys China . The former Edmonton Oilers defenceman was with the St. Louis Blues in training camp on a professional tryout. Whitney, 30, had four goals and 13 points in 34 games with the Oilers last season. Wholesale Custom Jerseys Free Shipping . Didnt need any help this time. Wood beat Cincinnati for the first time in his career, repeatedly pitching out of threats for seven innings, and Chicago stalled the Reds week-long surge with a 2-0 victory Monday night. http://www.customjerseyschina.com/.C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Discount Custom Jerseys Online . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. Sale Custom Jerseys . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes.Marcus Ball is no longer a Toronto Argonaut. The 26-year-old linebacker was released by the club on Monday. The University of Memphis product has spent the last two seasons with the Argonauts where he was a part of the 2012 Grey Cup champion squad and returned interceptions for touchdowns in each season. Last November following the Argos loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final, there was some sspeculation that Ball would seek to sign with an NFL team, something he referred to as a "dream.dddddddddddd" Ball tweeted late on Sunday night "Bout to get/take my shot... Yall pray for me... Here we go #GETBALL" potentially referring to a move south. Balls release comes on the heels of the team signing of All-Star linebacker Shea Emry from the Montreal Alouettes last week. 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