Stefan Frei unlikely to face Chicago Fire

Stefan Frei recently underwent X-rays to determine the full extent of his left-shoulder injury, but even without seeing those results, the Seattle Sounders are hopeful that one of the league's top goalkeepers will be back in action relatively soon.

"He feels much better today," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told the media on Monday. "It's just a situation of range of motion and pain and how he deals with those things. For Chicago (on Saturday), it's a bit touch and go but we'll see.

"We don't think it will be a long term thing."

Assuming Frei sits out at least one match -- the first regular-season game he'd be missing since signing with the Sounders at the start of last year -- Troy Perkins will get the nod with Charlie Lyon serving as his backup. The opportunity to play comes at as good of a time as any for Perkins, as he only recently got his first real playing time about three weeks ago. Since making his playing debut with S2 in a shutout win over LA Galaxy II, Perkins also played in the Open Cup against the Portland Timbers (a 3-1 extra-time defeat) and played a little more than a half against D.C. United on Friday.

That was the first regular-season action that the 33-year-old had seen since Sept. 20, 2014 when he was with the Montreal Impact. It was also by far the longest stretch of time he'd gone between appearances since returning to MLS in 2010.

Perkins didn't seem particularly worried about any adjustment period.

"The team, the club, the coaching staff have always kept me involved and in tune with everything," he said. "It will be fun going forward to see how things work out."