For the past two months, Harrison Afful has stood on the sidelines during training sessions at the Crew SC facility, working on a stationary bike or, more recently, running around the adjacent field doing fitness drills.

On game days, he could do nothing but watch the Crew lose eight of the 11 games he has missed. All he could do was wait for his jaw to heal from surgery after it was broken March 30 against Atlanta United.

That waiting is nearing an end.

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Afful was cleared last week and might be ready to return to the field Tuesday when the Crew plays host to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the United Soccer League in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Afful was on the field at his regular position as starting right back for all of Friday’s intrasquad scrimmage that was open to the media. His mouth isn’t wired shut anymore and he isn’t on as strict of a diet. The only thing he has to work on now is getting game minutes.

“I feel good,” Afful said. “I'm just happy to be back.”

For about a month, Afful would shove a straw in the space between his upper and lower teeth and slurp smoothies, soup and any other liquids that were prescribed by team dietician Jay Short. Away from the Crew, Afful lauded his wife for helping him in his recovery from surgery.

He had only lost five pounds by the time he was able to eat solid food again, and he has since returned to his regular weight. The first thing he had to have was his favorite food, fufu — a popular Ghanaian dish that’s a dough often made from cassava and plantains and usually eaten with soup.

“He's back, he's cleared, but we need to build his minutes up to be able to play him in the matches,” coach Caleb Porter said. “Obviously, it takes a little bit of time for a guy to get into rhythm, but he's been doing this a long time and it's a little bit like riding a bike. The biggest thing is how long can you ride the bike.”

The injury to Afful, accompanied by several other injuries over the past 11 games, affected the way Porter could use his outside backs in the attack, though Hector Jimenez has performed well in Afful’s place.

Without Afful, the Crew went from near the top of Major League Soccer at 3-1-1 to 5-9-2. That current negative run, he said, just makes him want to get back on the field even quicker.

“I always wanted to play, but they told me to be calm,” Afful said. “I believe in the guys. It's just we are trying to do everything possible, but it's not going our way and we just have to keep working hard."

When Afful does return, he’ll have a major role in trying to get the Crew back to the postseason in the final 18 MLS games.

"For me, to be on the field and to see the fans, it'll boost my morale to give my all to the club,” Afful said. “As we are going through this, they are going through the same (thing) because it's a really tough situation. But I believe it will turn around in a good way."

jmyers@dispatch.com

@Jacob_Myers_25