Galaxy expects dos Santos to return Saturday at RSL

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, Sep 17, 2015

A full day of training for Galaxy attacker Giovani Dos Santos on Thursday has Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena confident he’ll be in the lineup this weekend against Real Salt Lake.

“He's doing fine,” Arena said after the team’s last training session prior to its Friday departure for Utah. “We plan on playing him.”

Arena removed Dos Santos at halftime of a 0-0 tie with Montreal last Saturday because of a minor groin problem. The Mexican international didn’t speak with reporters Thursday but teammates said Dos Santos looked ready.

“I didn't know he was fit to train today, but he did really well, he got through it,” said midfielder Sebastian Lletget. “So, hopefully, he'll be OK for Saturday. Second half [against Montreal], we needed that little creativity just to open up the defense. He plays a big part in our offense, so it was tough to miss him.”

Dos Santos had registered either a goal or an assist in his first five matches since joining the Galaxy in August. The streak ended Aug. 28 in a 1-0 defeat at San Jose and the Galaxy was blanked again last week by the Impact. In MLS play, he’s scored two goals and registered three assists in seven appearances.

Forward Robbie Keane, who leads the Galaxy with 15 goals, concurred with Lletget regarding his affect on the attack. “[You miss] his creativity, his cleverness around the box,” said the team captain. “And, obviously, to set people up, he's very, very good at that. He's a big player when he doesn't play.”

Dos Santos was named by Mexico to its provisional 32-man roster for the Oct. 10 Concacaf Cup showdown with the USA at the Rose Bowl. He wasn’t selected for friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago, which finished 3-3, and Argentina (2-2).

After the match against RSL, the Galaxy plays Central FC in CCL play Sept. 23, and has league matches against FC Dallas (at home) Sept. 27 and at Seattle Oct. 4 before Dos Santos joins up with Mexico.