Injury Update: Obafemi Martins returns, Johnson & Evans possible, Estrada likely out

On a cold, wet day after a draw/loss in Mexico and a day of rest the biggest bit of news is that Obafemi Martins returned to Starfire and was training with the team again. Several other key Sounders are still out with injury and Friday's training session will go a long way to determining who gets used in Saturday's match.

"I'm getting much better," Martins said to media after Thursday's practice. "My knee is getting much better. I started training today. I've not been doing anything since last week. I hope to get better soon."

It is an injury that has persisted for some time. Rest is the largest part of his healing process.

"This injury is not new. I've been playing with it anyways," Obafemi said. "When it gets sore like this I have to take my time to take care of it."

Martins could be back on the pitch as early as Saturday, but Sigi Schmid will make that decision based on reports from training staff and doctors after the forward trains. Schmid was asked for updates on Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans as well.

"Eddie we'll see, because they were just regening today," Schmid answered. "Evans we'll see how he feels tomorrow. He did much more today at training so it's how he's going to feel tomorrow."

Forward David Estrada is still out due to the eye injury he suffered in the Salt Lake match. His return is much less likely than the others.

"He's out there but he's not quite 100% cleared yet. He's cleared to do activity, but he's not allowed to head the ball at this stage," Sigi explained. "Now we have to see if this activity has a negative effect on him."