A bone bruise on his left knee —as well as he later revealed, a posterior cruciate ligament—prevented LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan from playing in last week’s 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes, but Donovan has declared himself ready for Sunday’s regular season finale against the Seattle Sounders.
Donovan has been trained throughout the week as he looks to return to full fitness before next Thursday’s First Round Knockout match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Galaxy captain is still listed as questionable on the club's injury report, but even though many assumed that he would be held out of Sunday with LA turning their focus to the playoffs, Donovan told reporters on Friday that he is ready to play.
“I’m available. I’m ready to play,” said Donovan. “Obviously we’re going to be smart about this weekend in general, with everybody, myself included. Bruce and David, I think, will size everyone up tomorrow morning. The guys that played [Thursday] in El Salvador and everyone else who’s been training this week, we’ll see how it goes.”
Donovan stated that even though he is still dealing with pain—“all part of it,” he says— and would not be opposed to taking an injection to get through it, he believes that he needs the minutes to get ready for the playoffs.
“It’s been awhile for me, so I want to get some minutes for sure. It’s a balance between being smart, not just with myself, but with everybody, being smart from staying sharp, hopefully avoiding injury for anybody and being ready to go on Thursday.”
