Grepolis » tting healthy at the righ

TORONTO -- Striker Jermain Defoe says he is back to 100 per cent and ready to play for Toronto FC -- and England. "Its been really frustrating because when you get off to a good start, you just want it to continue as long as possible," said Defoe, who scored three goals in his first two games in Major League Soccer before being sidelined with a hamstring strain in late March. "But it happens. Its football, you get little niggles. Luckily enough it wasnt something that was too serious. It was just a case of resting and doing your rehab stuff. But yeah it feels fine now. I feel 100 per cent. Ive worked really hard. So maybe Ill come back stronger than I was before, which is important for the team." Saturdays game against the visiting New England Revolution (3-3-2) will mark five weeks since Defoe walked off the field favouring his hamstring in the 61st minute of a 3-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. Thanks to a bye, he only missed three games with Toronto (3-3-0) going 1-2-0 in his absence. Defoe, speaking to reporters after practice Tuesday, rubbished the suggestion that the injury layoff may affect his chances at making Englands World Cup squad. England manager Roy Hodgson plans to name his 23-man roster on May 13. "I missed three games. It happens in football, players get injured," said the 31-year-old Defoe, who has won 55 caps for England. "But if you miss three games and that changes the fact that you could, I dont know, go to a tournament, thats crazy." Manager Ryan Nelsen says he has not heard from the English camp. "Not yet," he said. Defoe, for one, does think much talk is needed. "I dont feel like I need to sell myself to anyone because Ill just let my football do the talking. Ive done that since I made my professional debut at 17 ... Im sure the manager knows what I can do." Defoe said not only is he 100 per cent physically, he feels stronger than he did before. Toronto FC officials have said privately they had to put the brakes on Defoe, who has acknowledges he is not known for his patience during injury layoffs. Defoes final days at Tottenham were marred by another hamstring injury. "Its a case of just getting it (the hamstring) strong again. Maybe I didnt do that before," he said. "I think now Ive really given it time to heal," he added. Defoe said his style of plays lends itself to hamstring issues -- "sometimes I go from a standing still position to get up to full speed." Toronto has had a spate of hamstring injuries this season with midfielders Jonathan Osorio, Alvaro Rey and Dwayne De Rosario all missing action. The club has said having to train longer than usual on artificial turf because of the harsh winter has not helped matters. Ironically it would have liked to have been able to practise under the bubble on turf Tuesday because of a downpour. But with the bubble about to come down, the lighting system had been dismantled and so they endured the rain outside. The good news is that the walking wounded are returning after the bye week. Osorio is already back in action while Nelsen says Rey, De Rosario and centre back Doneil Henry (knee) are "very close" to returning. Nelsen says the only player definitely out for this weekends game is midfielder Jeremy Hall (Achilles). Striker Bright Dike (Achilles) is also a long-term injury absence. Star U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley, who has been nursing a variety of ailments, is also doing well. Injuries have hampered Nelsen in blending his squad, which features three new designated players in Defoe, Bradley and Brazilian striker Gilberto and as many as five other new starters since last season. Two weeks ago against Colorado, he was unable to assemble a fully healthy bench. While Toronto has given up seven goals in six games, it has scored just six with Defoe accounting for three of them Toronto is getting healthy at the right time. After three games in April, Toronto has six in May including a home-and-away series with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Amway Canadian Championship. Three of the four league games are at home so May represents a chance to harvest points. With Bradley, Brazilian goalie Julio Cesar and possibly Defoe joining their national teams at the end of May ahead of the World Cup, points may be harder to come by later. While Defoe has not yet heard from Hodgson, Cesar says he reached out to Luiz Felipe Scolari to invite him to Toronto after reading that the Brazil coach had visited players in Europe. "I was a little bit jealous," Cesar said with a smile. Nike Shox For Sale . -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nike Shox Clearance . Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. http://www.cheapnikeshox.net/. Lost to Los Angeles in first round of playoffs. Cheap Nike Shox .In a statement released Friday, the Catalan club said the Brazil stars recovery would be monitored to determine when he can begin training again. Nike Shox Cheap Mens . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. Chase De Leo and Mathew Dumba responded for the Winterhawks, who suffered just their fourth loss in their last 46 games, a string of success running all the way back to Jan.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Pistons will take a four-game winning streak back home Sunday night when the Sacramento Kings visit The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons swept a three-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks. The run started with a home victory over the Indiana Pacers. All four victories have come by double figures and an average margin of victory of 18 points. Its no coincidence that the Pistons are undefeated since the abrupt and somewhat surprising release of Josh Smith with two-plus years and $25-plus million left on his deal. On Friday, Brandon Jennings had 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter and the Pistons routed the Knicks, 97-81. I just wanted to open up the game in the third quarter and give us a comfortable lead, Jennings said. Andre Drummond ripped down 20 rebounds, Greg Monroe posted 12 points and 10 boards and Jodie Meeks netted 15 points off the bench for the Pistons, who had lost four straight prior to their current winning streak. The Pistons hit the road immediately for tilts with the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. The Kings havee gone in a bad direction since firing head coach Mike Malone.dddddddddddd They were 2-6 until a three-point victory on New Years Day over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Darren Collison and Rudy Gay each scored 21 points to lead the Kings to a 110-107 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points with seven rebounds before fouling out, and Derrick Williams added 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win. Ben McLemore added 14 as all five Sacramento starters scored in double figures, but the bench only provided 18 points. Sacramento snapped a six-game losing skid on the road. To get a win under our belts especially after the game yesterday is good to see, said Kings coach Tyrone Corbin, who had the interim tag removed from his job title this week. The Kings shot 54.1 percent from the field and outrebounded the T-wolves, 42-38. The Kings return to Sacramento following Sundays contest for six straight. Detroit prevailed in Californias capital on Dec. 13 for its fourth consecutive victory in this series. The Pistons are 9-1 in their last 10 against the Kings and 8-2 in the previous 10 in Motown. ' ' '