Stefan Frei injured in training.

Well, whether he's the number one goalie or not, this is potentially very bad news for Toronto FC's season. At roughly 11:00, alarming tweets started pouring out from all the journalists attending TFC's training that Stefan Frei was injured, apparently from catching a cleat in the grass (so much for all that 'plastic pitches are to blame for injuries' talk).

He left the pitch on crutches, his left leg in an air cast, and was apparently take to hospital for further assessment. Expect more news to come out with regards to the severity of this, but it's very bad news for TFC, and especially for Frei, who doesn't seem to be able to catch a break after picking up a couple of injuries last season as well. Hopefully it's not something that will keep him out of action for any significant time.

We'll have to wait and see about that, but the immediate question is who exactly will be on TFC's bench, backing up Milos Kocic on Saturday. Academy goalie Quillan Roberts played against Vancouver in the Mickey Mouse Cup, so may be the one signed if an academy goalie is promoted to the first team, with Chad Bush as the other option.

That's one option, depending on the severity of Frei's injury, I can't imagine the coaching staff would want to change their plans for the academy goalies development for the sake of a rushed bandaid solution, but if it something that is a matter of months rather than weeks, a goalie is going to have to come from somewhere. I'd think a free agent signing of a more experienced goalkeeper would be more likely.

In the very short term, ie tomorrow's home opener, I'd expect one of MLS's pool of emergency keepers to be rushed up to Toronto to sit on the bench, and if Frei is out for just a short time, probably stay with the club until Frei is ready to come back. Annoyingly I can't find details of just who the emergency pool keepers are, but I know Brian Edwards has performed that role in the past and the union salary release shows that last year it was Kevin Guppy, Chris Konopka and Chris Sharpe. I don't recognise any of those names, but if not one of those players, it'll be some similarly anonymous player we see. Hopefully he won't have to be here for long, and hopefully Milos Kocic won't suffer an injury and the replacement won't see a minute of action.