The groin strain that kept Lee Nguyen out of action during the back end of the Revolution preseason schedule can actually be traced back to last year’s postseason push.

On Wednesday, the 2014 MVP finalist told the media that he originally suffered the injury during training in early-November, saying that he woke up the following day “really sore.”

“I’ve been playing with it like a little pain there ever since then, and (went) into (U.S.) camp with it,” Nguyen said. “I had a little PRP (platelet-rich plasma) shot, got some rest and that seemed to do the trick. So hopefully, we can manage it, and it’ll be fine.”

Nguyen said that he worked with the training staff to lessen the stress on the injury, but that initially, shooting from distance – a specialty in the midfielder’s arsenal – wasn’t something he enjoyed.

“Anything past 30 yards was pretty painful, pretty stressful on the groin,” Nguyen said. “There were some days in which I just opted not to shoot.”

But with the Revolution in midst of their deepest postseason run in seven years, Nguyen wasn’t afforded the luxury of taking an extended rest to allow the injury to heal.

“I was able to manage it through the season, and was able to get some rest at the end, in Dec. and Jan. there helped it out, too,” Nguyen said. “The PRP shot made it feel better prior.”

Although was able to train on Wednesday, Nguyen stopped short of declaring himself ready to go for Sunday’s First Kick clash against Seattle.

“We’ll see,” Nguyen said. “I’m training with the team right now, and we’ll see.”

If Nguyen does miss Sunday’s opener, it’ll be the second straight First Kick clash he’ll miss due to injury. He missed last year’s season-opener in Houston due to a right groin strain.