Sounders get Eddie Johnson back for Thursday, now uncertain on Mauro Rosales

The Seattle Sounders will have Eddie Johnson back for a semifinal playoff game against Real Salt Lake on Thursday, according to SeattlePI.com, and the return of the forward will be welcomed in the must-win scenario.

The second leg of the playoffs will be played in Salt Lake City. The two teams tied 0-0 on Friday in the first leg without Johnson, who suffered a strained leg muscle last month in the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

But the Sounders still have other injuries to worry about. Midfielder Mauro Rosales has been sitting out practice with a hamstring injury that cropped up in Friday's tie game. The Seattle Times reports that Rosales is day-to-day and has "significant progress still to make."

Head coach Sigi Schmid now must look over options to replace Rosales. Sounders At Heart believes one option would be to throw Brad Evans in right and Steve Zakuani to the left, but another would be to replace Rosales with Mario Martinez..

Leo Gonzalez and Patrick Ianni are two other injured players working toward a recovery by Thursday.