The Portland Thorns fully expect midfielder Tobin Heath to compete in the NWSL playoffs.

Thorns coach Mark Parsons said Tuesday that the club will make room for Heath on the roster before the NWSL roster freeze date next Tuesday. The Thorns currently have the maximum allowed 20 players on their roster and will need to waive a player to make room for Heath.

"She will be on our roster before the roster freeze," Parsons said. "We hope Tobin will be back in Portland training in the near future."

Heath, who was a finalist for the 2016 NWSL MVP award, has missed the entire 2017 season as she's dealt with a lingering back injury. Heath has recently been working on her rehabilitation in Los Angeles with staff from the U.S. Women's National Team.

Parsons said that the club is making room for Heath on the roster because they expect her to be healthy enough to play in the postseason, which begins in the first week of October.

The Thorns (10-5-4, 34 points) have yet to clinch a playoff berth, but sit in great position in second place in the NWSL standings, five points clear of the third and fourth place teams with five games left in the regular season. The top four teams make playoffs.

Parsons could not say whether Heath would be available to play in any of Portland's five remaining regular season games.

With the roster freeze date coming up Tuesday, the Thorns will also have to decide whether to add Savannah Jordan and Meg Morris, who are both on the 45-day disabled list, to the active roster.

Parsons said that Jordan is nearing full health, while the club is still evaluating Morris to see if she could be healthy enough to play this season.

To add either Jordan or Morris to the roster, the Thorns would have to make another move to open up a roster spot and Parsons said the club has yet to decide if they are going to do that.

The Thorns also have another player dealing with injury in Mana Shim, who has been out for an extended period of time with a concussion. Shim remains on the active roster and Parsons said he expects her to be back in full training within the next two weeks.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg