Corrales trains, but Huckerby, Cochrane ailing

Normally, the news that Ramiro Corrales returned to full training would have warmed the hearts of San Jose fans everywhere, but this was tempered by the sight of Darren Huckerby sitting out most of Thursday’s session.

In talking to manager Frank Yallop afterwards, it was revealed that Huckerby is suffering from tightness in his left calf  just above his Achilles tendon. When asked about the Englishman’s availability for Saturday’s game against Chivas USA, Yallop said, “He’s questionable. He’s going to try and play, he wants to play obviously, but we’ll wait until Saturday to see how he is doing.”

Defender Ryan Cochrane also sat out Thursday’s session with a sore foot that he incurred in Tuesday’s friendly win over Salvadoran side CD FAS. While Cochrane isn’t necessarily a candidate to start Saturday’s game, defenders Eric Denton, Jason Hernandez, and Nick Garcia are all close to suspension. For that reason, Yallop may opt to rest Cochrane in order to have him fully fit for next week’s games against Houston and Kansas City.

“I’ll have to see how he’s doing between tomorrow and the next day,” said Yallop of Cochrane. “It’s the same as [Huckerby]. You don’t want to push it and then he blows it out and then you’re in trouble.”

As for Corrales, the midfielder showed few ill effects from his left knee injury, moving well off the ball and looking reasonably sharp on it. Yallop was quick to lower expectations, however. “[Corrales] is still a ways away,” said the San Jose manager.

Several other players who played in Tuesday’s friendly also were on the sidelines. Shea Salinas, Mikel Arce, and Matt Hatzke sat out with various ailments, but it isn’t expected to affect their availability for Saturday.