Minnesota United FC inching back to full strength

The Minnesota United FC injury front is looking a lot better than a week ago.

Coach Adrian Heath said at practice Wednesday defender Joe Greenspan is officially cleared after his concussion and ready to play.

Third-choice goalkeeper Patrick McLain, who also had a concussion, joined in on practice with the other keepers as well. Starting goalkeeper John Alvbage joined in on practice Tuesday after recovering from a knee laceration, so four goalkeepers were in play Wednesday, with backup-turned-starter Bobby Shuttleworth and temporary addition Billy Heavner.

"I think John's still a bit away, and I think Patrick, we're hoping that he's day-to-day at this moment," Heath said. "But we're hoping by the end of this week, especially, to be able to say, well, yeah, they're back in full training. And that will determine what we do with Billy."

Heath also said defender Francisco Calvo and midfielders Kevin Molino and Rasmus Schuller return for national team duty sometime Wednesday. Heath said both Calvo and Molino will be in training Thursday, while he is hoping the same for Schuller. Schuller is coming back from Europe while Calvo and Molino stayed in North America.

Also of note, Saturday's opponent Real Salt Lake officially named a new coach Wednesday. Mike Petke, the former New York Red Bulls coach who most recently coached Salt Lake's United Soccer League affiliate Real Monarchs, will be with the team 7 p.m. Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium but not as coach. Interim coach Daryl Shore will still be in charge.

RSL fired former coach Jeff Cassar three matches into the season.