Blake appears to be at least a week away

CHESTER » Still sporting a dayglow bandage on his right index and middle finger, Andre Blake conceded that another week on the sidelines is his likeliest outcome.

The Union goalkeeper still has seven stitches in the webbing between the fingers and hasn’t faced a shot since the July 26 Gold Cup final in which he left injured against the U.S. That dearth of work likely rules him out of Saturday’s visit from Montreal (8 p.m., TCN).

“Feeling pretty good,” Blake said Wednesday. “Obviously I can’t do much with it, so I’ve just been staying fit, staying sharp.”

John McCarthy, coming off a career-high nine saves in a 3-1 win over FC Dallas, is slated to start his seventh straight game.

“That thing’s still taped up, so it’s not looking likely for Montreal, unfortunately,” manager Jim Curtin said. “But Johnny has done a great job in place of Andre.”

Blake has tried to stay active with his fitness, but there’s only so much he can do. Being around his teammates helps him remain mentally sharp.

Part of the latter challenge is getting over the disappointment of not directly parlaying momentum from the Gold Cup, where Jamaica made the final and Blake had a legitimate claim to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honors in addition to his landslide Golden Gloves nod.

“I’ve gotten over it,” Blake said. “It makes no sense to stress over something you can’t control. It happened for a reason, and I might not know why right now, but I’m just taking it for whatever it is. I’m hurt, I can’t play but I’m not going to feel bad about it because there’s not much more than I could’ve done.”