Salt Lake sweat on defensive duo

Real Salt Lake are sweating on the fitness of defensive duo Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave ahead of their conference final against the LA Galaxy.

Both men suffered quadriceps strains in the first leg of their Western Conference semi-final against Seattle Sounders.

Despite a nervy second leg, RSL progressed past Seattle to set up a date with the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference final but the big question is whether Borchers and Olave will take their places in the centre of defence on Sunday.

“Those two are arguably the best centre-back pairing in the league, and if one of them are out it hurts them,” Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said. “If both of them are out it certainly hurts them.”

Fellow USA international Kyle Beckerman, who sits in a holding role ahead of the RSL defence, agreed.

“If they’re in, we definitely have a confidence and swagger that we can play with those two in the back,” the 29-year-old said. “Today in practice they looked pretty good so hopefully we’ll get back to our regular (line-up).”

Both trained – though not at full tilt – on Saturday but RSL coach Jason Kreis, who playfully dodged questions about their fitness ahead of the Seattle second leg on Wednesday, remained coy.

“The latest is that they’re still undecided and they’ll be undecided until game time tomorrow,” Kreis said.

Borchers and Olave anchored the defence when Salt Lake won the MLS Cup, over the LA Galaxy, in 2009. In fact, much of the squad is the same from two years ago, thanks to a consistency Kreis highlights as key to his side’s success.

“My personal belief is that the most successful teams in our league are the ones that can keep the most number of players together for the longest amount of time,” Kreis said.