Portland Timbers forward Darlington Nagbe will miss the next two to four weeks after suffering a sports hernia. There's been no word on when the injury occurred, but Nagbe is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the hernia on Friday in Southern California.
The Timbers chose Nagbe, a member of Generation Adidas, second in the 2011 MLS Draft and he's reportedly lived up to the expectations in training since. Before the injury, Nagbe was set to play the bulk of the starting minutes at forward for the Timbers in their first year of MLS play. With surgery keeping him out of training for at least two weeks, and likely more, the Timbers will have to find other options at the forward spot as Nagbe works to not only heal from the injury, but get back into shape before taking the field.
With Nagbe out, Ryan Pore may be able to fill the void for Portland, at least temporarily. SB Nation's Jeremiah Oshan took a look at what options the Timbers have with Nagbe on the sidelines, but the options are thin.
But Pore had only played about 170 minutes in the team's last five preseason matches and was starting to look like he may have lost his starting job. Recently acquired Sal Zizzo could also be in competition for that starting spot.
The Timbers will be in Seattle this weekend for the Cascadia Summit, taking the field against the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps at Starfire Athletic Complex in Tukwila.
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