COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter said that the injured duo of defender Liam Ridgewell and forward Fanendo Adi are fit to play in Sunday's MLS Cup final against Columbus Crew SC.
Speaking at Friday's news conference, Porter said, "They'll both be ready to go [and] available."
Ridgewell has been dealing with a recurring calf injury ever since breaking his leg in 2009. He suffered a recurrence of the ailment in the first leg of the Western Conference finals against FC Dallas.
Ridgewell said after that match, "I just tweaked my calf a little bit." But he was ultimately held out of the second leg, and wasn't even named to the game day roster, with Norberto Paparatto taking his place in the starting lineup.
Ridgewell was similarly upbeat after the second leg following Portland's 2-2 draw that enabled it to prevail over FCD 5-3 on aggregate.
"I'll be good to go by next week," he said then. "I can't miss another one. It was bad enough watching today."
Now his manager shares his assessment, and Ridgewell is in line to resume his spot in the center of Portland's defense alongside Nat Borchers.
"Liam's our captain and he's had a fantastic season," said Borchers prior to Friday's training session. "He's been one of our most consistent players and brings a lot of leadership to the field, so having him back is going to be huge for us in a big game like this. We're going to need his experience."
Adi led Portland in scoring this season with 16 goals. He has scored twice more in the playoffs, including the eventual series decider in the second leg against Dallas.
He was forced out of the match in the 85th minute with what he described afterward as a "hard knock." But now it appears as though he has recovered sufficiently to resume his spot as the center-forward in Porter's 4-3-3 alignment.