Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Koffie could profit from Reo-Coker injury

Ghanaian midfielder Gershon Koffie could profit from Reo-Coker’s injury for Canadian side Whitecaps. 

The veteran midfielder, wasn’t at practice Tuesday, the result of a fall that earned him some nasty scrapes on his face and possibly a concussion, club officials said.

“The initial thing was rest today and make sure he does the best things for him,” said assistant coach Martyn Pert. “There’s a chance (of a concussion), yeah. At the moment, there’s no definite answer.”

Koffie, the Caps’ talented young Ghanaian, is the obvious choice to replace Reo-Coker if he doesn’t return in time for the Caps’ (1-0-2) Saturday home game against the Houston Dynamo (2-0-0).

Determined to claw his way back into the lineup, Koffie’s been training like a man possessed.

He played his first 20 minutes of the season in Saturday’s scoreless tie at the New England Revolution. He came on for Reo-Coker in a defensive midfield role alongside Matias Laba and kept it simple.

It’s the latest bizarre injury for a club that in 2011 lost Canadian winger Russell Teibert to a lacerated toe from riding his bike in flip flops, and in 2012 went months without striker Darren Mattocks, who’d suffered severe burns while cooking a Jamaican chicken dish.