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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Simon Bajkowski

Man City get Zack Steffen injury update ahead of USMNT fixtures

Zack Steffen has not yet joined up with his national team due to the back problem that kept him out of the Southampton game.

The Manchester City goalkeeper was absent from the squad that travelled down to St Mary's, with youngster Cieran Slicker stepping in, after it was deemed he wasn't fit enough to make the trip.

Steffen's injury wasn't thought to be serious enough to rule him out of the three World Cup qualifiers coming up for the USA, but has troubled him enough to delay him linking up with the rest of the US Men's National Team (USMNT) players and their coach Gregg Berhalter in their training camp in Ohio. A statement from USMNT said that Steffen's situation would be assessed on a daily basis.

New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson and New England Revolution's Matt Turner provide competitions for the No.1 spot but Berhalter - who used to coach Steffen at Columbus Crew - has opted for the City goalkeeper in each of their last three World Cup qualifiers.

They are currently second in the table after 8 of 14 matches, although they are only one point ahead of fourth place; the top three qualify automatically for the World Cup and the fourth-best team will go into a play-off.

Should Steffen be fit enough to participate in the USMNT games, he will face a race against time to make himself available for City's FA Cup game at home to Fulham a week on Saturday. Steffen would not arrive back in Manchester any earlier than 48 hours before the match, a day after Ederson will get back from Brazil duty.

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