Report: Injury puts Aurelien Collin out of 2018 MLS playoffs

The New York Red Bulls’ first lineup announcement of the 2018 playoffs also carried the team’s first significant injury news of the post-season:

Aurelien Collin will miss the match after breaking his cheekbone during training. He is expected to miss six weeks.

Collin hasn’t been a regular starter for RBNY since 2016, in part due to injury and more recently due to the form of Aaron Long and Tim Parker. Indeed, the veteran center-back hasn’t made an appearance for the Red Bulls since July 28. Incidentally, that appearance was the last time RBNY played Columbus Crew: a disappointing 3-2 loss for the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.

So Collin’s absence from the roster is unlikely to cause RBNY too much distress. He has been sliding down the dept chart for the best part of the last two seasons, and has not appeared to be significant to the team’s plans for several months now. Still, no injury is welcome news. The Red Bulls official injury list now stands at six players, with Collin joining Vincent Bezecourt, Florian Valot, Ben Mines, Tommy Redding, and Kyle Duncan.