The Union's Alejandro Bedoya, center, is recovering well from a rib injury
unrelated to this knock against Montreal Sept. 10. Manager Jim Curtin
expects him to be fine for the Oct. 16 visit from Orlando. (AP)

The Philadelphia Union’s squad was a tad thin Wednesday during the international window, with Andre Blake (Jamaica), Warren Creavalle (Guyana), Derrick Jones and Auston Trusty (U.S. Under-20) away on international duty. But the team put in a lengthy morning session in the first of a double-workout day. I chatted with new signing Kevin Kratz, and I’ll have that story posted soon. A few quick hits:

- Manager Jim Curtin is keeping his team’s mentality as even-keeled as possible in the face of a five-game winless streak and a slide to sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Union control their destiny and require a home-field meltdown to miss the playoffs, so the group remains confident. From the manager:

“Obviously it was a road trip where it didn’t go the way we wanted. Obviously the three games, three difficult places to play, we’re disappointed with the amount of points we took, only taking one in Toronto. So you step back and you’re frustrated in that regard, but you do know you have two home games at the end of the season, which is good. I think we had stretches in all three games – in Portland, in Toronto and in Red Bull (Arena) – of good soccer, but we didn’t put together 90 minutes, and we got punished in some areas of those games. The goal now is, we know that we’ve been a good team at home, that if we play at the level we’re capable of and we get back to just the basics and putting together the complete 90 minutes, we still like our chances at home to get a result.”

As to whether or not the week off helps, Curtin’s not sure, though he’s grateful for the chance to reinforce certain points (cough, set-piece defending, cough) and recuperate. Curtin:

“I don’t have the perfect answer. This does give us a little bit of time to work on some things. Obviously defensively we can tighten things up. Giving three goals up on the road is something where we can look at the film and get some things corrected. I think it’s good to have the extra week. We obviously have a couple of guys that got banged up, so it comes at a good time. … It’s a strange time to have a bye for sure, I think for every team right now. But at the same time, it falls at a good time for us. We can regroup and know exactly what we need to do at home.”

- Josh Yaro was with the group and jogging lightly, though he didn’t train. Curtin was optimistic about the defender’s status after a second concussion in the last month sustained Saturday. “He’s bouncing back quicker than the docs expected,” Curtin said. “He’s being evaluated now by the docs. He’s in the normal concussion protocol similar to the last time he went through it, going through all the steps. The hope is to have him back in training by Tuesday.” There had been external speculation as to whether Yaro could be shut down for the season, but Curtin hasn’t seen anything to indicate that measure and believes Yaro could yet play a part. “I’ll do what the doctors tell me and how they advise is how I’ll handle that,” Curtin said, the implication that the medical staff hasn’t suggested a shutdown.

- Alejandro Bedoya worked with the training staff inside on his rib injury and joined the group to jog through the last section of practice. Curtin met a question on the American midfielder’s status with a resolute, “He’ll be fine.” Bedoya, who withdrew from the U.S. squad traveling to Cuba for a friendly Friday, could be in the mix to play for the U.S. Tuesday in a friendly with New Zealand in Washington D.C., per Curtin. U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann has said he could shuttle players in and out of the squad for the two matches.

- Ilsinho worked off to the side in managing his plantar fasciitis. Curtin said he’s nearing a return. The Brazilian hasn’t started a game since Aug. 20, missing three games in that span.

- As a corollary to the Yaro situation, Curtin was asked if Maurice Edu, whom he swears is nearing a return, is an option as a reserve center back or if that’s Trusty’s position. Trusty has twice made the 18. (You’ll notice the absence of Anderson from these conversations completely.) Here’s Curtin’s response on the age-old “Edu as center back quandary”:

“It’s a fair question. We signed Auston for a reason, because we believe that he can do the job. It would be a big spot for a young guy, but it’s one that we’ve been comfortable playing young players. It’s a situation we’ll evaluate as the weeks go on, see where Josh is. Ideally, hopefully, he is ready to go. If you wanted to speculate and not have him available, you’d lean toward just having Auston be the guy that is the third just because it’s his natural position and it’s something that’s easy for him.”