Todd Dunivant saw his first MLS action since early April at the end of the LA Galaxy’s loss Saturday night at Columbus. With Robbie Rogers day-to-day after exiting the game with a quadriceps injury, the veteran left back could get the call Wednesday night at Colorado (9 pm ET, MLS Live), whether he’s fully ready for it or not.
Dunivant, who had been sidelined since tearing an abdominal muscle in an April 6 romp over Chivas USA, says he’ll do whatever is needed.
"It’s a great opportunity," he told the Galaxy Insider on Monday in audio distributed by the club. "Let’s see what Bruce [Arena] decides. I’m ready to go and anxious to get back on the field. We’ve been on a great run, and I want to continue that."
Rogers, who has emerged as LA’s first-choice left back during Dunivant’s absence, came off in the 64th minute Saturday as the Galaxy switched to a 3-5-2 formation after trimming the Crew’s lead through Gyasi Zardes 15 minutes earlier. Rogers hurt his quad in training Wednesday, in a collision with goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, and said it worsened as the game went on.
"I felt good in the first half, but in the second half I couldn’t play anymore," Rogers said after the 4-1 defeat. "I couldn’t move. It’s kind of why I was just sitting back. ... I tried to play through that injury. It was affecting too much of the way I was playing. I couldn’t cover ground, so I had to take myself out, unfortunately."
Dunivant came on for Dan Gargan in the 85th minute and ran around for a good eight minutes.
"It wasn’t the best circumstances – we were, obviously, down three goals – but it was great to be able to get on the field and get some minutes," said Dunivant, who played 78 minutes in the Galaxy II’s USL PRO victory over Arizona United a week earlier.
"It’s not easy as a defender to get minutes. There’s not a lot of situations where it makes sense to sub defenders, so I was, obviously, happy to be on the field, but it would have been nice if the score was maybe the other way around."
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Arena had included Dunivant on the bench in the Galaxy’s previous two games, a win over Portland and a draw with San Jose, but that was more about getting him back into a rhythm.
"I think he has a way to go before he gets any extended minutes in our games," Arena said after his USL PRO appearance. "But it’s a good first step back."
Dunivant, who is from Colorado, will have plenty of support on hand Wednesday night, so he’d love the chance to step into the lineup.
"I’ll have to buy 84 tickets for this game," he said. "There will be a lot of family and friends there, and, hopefully, we can make it a good homecoming."
