O.B. is A-OK

Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie remains coy on Andy O’Brien’s status for Saturday but the big centre back has Kenny Miller’s vote. “Obviously, the experience he’s got is something we have missed, but the lads have come in and done great in his absence,” Miller, the Caps’ Scottish international forward, said of O’Brien after Thursday’s practice at UBC. “It has been a loss. The qualities of his leadership and organization will definitely be a benefit to us in this run-in.” O’Brien, 34, hasn’t played since pulling a hamstring in a 3-2 loss at Seattle on June 8. He’s been ready to go for two weeks but Rennie stuck with the athletic Carlyle Mitchell alongside Johnny Leveron in a win over San Jose and 2-0 loss at Colorado last weekend. And Rennie wasn’t giving any hints as to his centre back pairing for Saturday’s game against the L.A. Galaxy at B.C. Place (6 p.m., TSN2, TEAM 1410). “We haven’t decided on that yet, but (O’Brien’s) healthy and it’s nice to have choice,” Rennie said. The coach did say of O’Brien,“That experience, you can’t buy that,”and against crafty players such as Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, one imagines Rennie will consider O’Brien’s years a considerable asset. That said, with speedster Gyasi Zardes likely playing left wing for L.A., Rennie might want Mitchell’s pace in the lineup to help out fullback Y.P. Lee when needed.

NO BUTTS ABOUT IT

Kenny Miller’s classic goal against England last week at Wembley Stadium is proving a pain in the butt for one big-mouthed fan. Ryan Pearson, a 20-year-old hospital worker from Falkirk, Scotland, took to Twitter before last Wednesday’s game to proclaim: “If Kenny Miller scores, I’ll get ‘Kenny Miller, Goal Machine’ tattooed on ma a**!” The U.K.’s Daily Record had an update this week, quoting a regretful Ryan, who planned to go through with the tattoo after almost 1,000 retweets of his promise. “When he scored, I started celebrating like everyone else,”Ryan told the Record.“But about a minute or so later, everyone in our group started looking at me. Then I remembered what I’d posted. “I just thought, ‘Oh no.’” The finished product will apparently feature Miller’s face in full celebration.