Press conference notes: Who's in for Wednesday?

In his weekly press conference, Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin shed some light on some looming questions Union fans had, such as the fitness of Joshua Yaro and Vincent Nogueira and who would be starting in place of Andre Blake.

Josh Yaro suffered an injury in the middle of the Orlando City FC clash to his shoulder and has been in great discomfort ever since. He did not play in the 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids and went in for an MRI on his shoulder today. There is still no news on how long he will actually be out.

Curtin confirmed that Vincent Nogueira would be available for tomorrow's match against Columbus Crew SC, as "he's feeling 100%." Nogueira has noticeably been absent from the starting XI with an ankle injury since the 1-1 draw against the Montreal Impact. In my own opinion, had Nogueira been playing, the Union could have had more goals in the games against D.C. United, Orlando City and Colorado.

As Andre Blake was selected for the Jamaican national team to compete in Copa America, a different starter would need to be selected for the Columbus match. Curtin stated that goalkeeping coach and former Union keeper Oka Nikolov's judgement played a major role in choosing the starter, and Curtin is going with the Englishman Matt Jones. This will be Jones' first start in MLS after coming to the Union on loan from Portuguese side Belenenses. Jones has played one match for Bethlehem Steel FC, and that is the only action he has had since coming to Philadelphia.