Union counting on injured stars to heal up ahead of Red Bulls playoff clash

CHESTER, PA. >> Playoff soccer may have healing properties, if the rosy prognosis offered by Jim Curtin is to be believed.

The Union coach is confident that both Alejandro Bedoya (quad) and Kacper Przybylko (foot) will be healthy for the club’s Oct. 20 playoff game against the Red Bulls (3 p.m., FS1).

“With the playoffs as the motivator, I’m fully confident that we’ll have all of our players available for selection for the Red Bulls game,” was how Curtin addressed it at a press availability Wednesday.

Bedoya left the Sept. 29 loss in Columbus after pulling up lame. The quad strain cost him the finale against New York City FC last week, but the diagnosis of a Grade 1 strain carries a one-to-two week absence, which Curtin believes the midfielder is on track for. He participated in shooting drills Wednesday.

Bedoya played every minute of the first 28 games before a suspension for yellow-card accumulation cost him the Atlanta game. The team captain started 32 times this season with four goals and four assists.

Przybylko aggravated a foot issue in warmups before NYCFC so severely that he was pulled from the lineup. Scans came back clean on what is believed to be a muscle injury that is not connected to foot fractures that cost the striker the better part of two seasons in Germany.

Przybylko is the Union’s leading scorer with 15 goals to go with four assists.

“Everything came back OK,” Curtin said of Przybylko. “He’ll get his treatment. We’ll be cautions this week, but at the same time, we’re fully confident that he’ll be ready to go for Red Bulls.”

Another under-the-radar return could impact the attacking hierarchy: Sergio Santos (hamstring) trained fully Wednesday, ahead of Curtin’s schedule. Santos limped off late in the loss to the New York Red Bulls Sept. 22, the latest in a succession of four separate leg injuries that have dented his debut season in MLS. He’s made just five starts (17 appearances) for a grand total of 622 minutes.

But as the Brazilian showed with a goal and an assist in the win over Atlanta Aug. 31, he’s been productive when healthy. He has four goals and one assist in that limited run.

“He’s the wild card,” Curtin said. “That’s how I would describe him because teams still don’t really know him that well yet because he had a lot of injuries during the course of the season, but he’s kind of a game-changer in terms of his pace and speed and ability to score goals. It’s a good one to have in your pocket.”