The Portland Timbers will be missing nine players when they take on Sporting Kansas City Saturday, due to injuries and international duty.

Center backs Larrys Mabiala (left hamstring injury), Julio Cascante (left thigh injury) and Modou Jadama (left foot injury), outside backs Zarek Valentin (left upper leg injury) and Marco Farfan (left knee injury) and midfielder Cristhian Paredes (right upper leg injury) all missed last Saturday’s game against Real Salt Lake, due to injuries. Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella is also out for the season after getting shoulder surgery.

Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said Tuesday that those seven players were all still recovering and would be unavailable for Saturday’s game against Kansas City.

“They are still recovering,” Savarese said. “They are getting closer, some of them, to be able to come back and start playing. Some of them, it’s because they need to get their fitness back. Others are still recuperating from the injury... But the other guys are ready to play. The other guys are excited. The practice today was fantastic. We’re looking forward to the match.”

Along with the injuries, the Timbers will be missing two additional players to international duty. Midfielders Andres Flores (El Salvador) and Renzo Zambrano (Venezuela) have been called up to represent their respective national teams and will miss Saturday’s game. Zambrano would have missed Saturday’s game regardless after picking up a red card last week against Salt Lake.

Where to find Timbers gear: Fanatics, Adidas, Amazon, Lids

Paredes has been called up to the Paraguay National Team as well and is expected to join his country, assuming that he is healthy enough to play. Sporting Kansas City is expected to be missing some key players due to international duty as well, including Johnny Russell and Felipe Gutierrez.

The absences will give the Timbers limited options on the backline and at defensive midfield.

Portland should still be able to start a relatively experienced backline with Bill Tuiloma, Claude Dielna, Jorge Villafana and Jorge Moreira, but the club is unlikely to have any true defenders on its bench for the second straight week.

Veteran midfielder Diego Chara is expected to start in central midfield as usual, but the absences will put the Timbers in a difficult situation when it comes to deciding who will start alongside Chara. Savarese could chose to start either Eryk Williamson or Andy Polo alongside Chara.

“We have a group of warriors that are ready to play any position and ready to give everything for the club,” Savarese said.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.