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SANDY — Jeff Attinella thought it was bad.
The Real Salt Lake backup goalkeeper went down during warmups before a training session last week, and he was helped off the field with an ankle injury Tuesday that kept him out of games at Los Angeles and Vancouver.
But he’s fine now — and even admits his reaction might have been worse than the actual injury suffered.
“From my reaction, everybody thought I got shot,” Attinella said after training with third-string goalkeeper Lalo Fernandez and coach Daryl Shore on Tuesday. “But it’s good; I took care of it with (RSL head athletic trainer Tyson Pace), and I’m good to go this week.”
The Salt Lake club will need Attinella, as he is projected to start in goal against Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado on Sunday after regular starter Nick Rimando was called up by the U.S. men’s national team for Friday’s match at the Netherlands.
Though an outside chance remains that Rimando and RSL and U.S. teammate Kyle Beckerman return between friendlies at Holland and Germany, Attinella is almost assuredly the man heading into Sunday’s match against the Rapids at 3 p.m. MDT.
“We know it will be tough after May was tough for us, and having an extra day off with a Sunday game will be good for us,” Attinella said. “Three points will be huge here, but any three points at home is big.”
BELTRAN, PHILLIPS MISSING — RSL defenders Tony Beltran and Demar Phillips weren’t available for training Tuesday, but head coach Jeff Cassar expects the duo to return soon. Beltran sat out RSL’s first training of the week with a mild psoas injury in his hip, but Cassar expects the veteran right back to return Wednesday.
“It’s just one of those things where he logs a lot of minutes for us, and we need to manage it,” Cassar said of Beltran, who has played 1,163 minutes in 2015.
Beltran sat out last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Vancouver, his first missed game since Oct. 5, 2014 at the now-defunct Chivas USA. The 27-year-old defender has played in 177 games, including 164 starts, since Salt Lake drafted him in 2008.
Phillips returned to his native Jamaica to deal with personal issues involving a sick family member, Cassar added.
CCL DRAW REACTION — RSL learned its two opponents for the group stage of the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champion’s League on Monday night, and the players and coaches were excited to get back into the tournament for the first time since 2013.
The club was drawn into a three-team group with Guatemala’s Municipal and El Salvador’s Santa Tecla FC.
“I’m very excited,” RSL midfielder Luke Mulholland said. “I like getting to face other teams. I’m definitely not overlooking any of those teams — we’ve still got to pick up our points at home. But it will be good for some of the guys to get Champion’s League experience — good for down the road, too.”
