The fact that Mason Trafford has found a home in Ottawa Fury FC's starting 11 on a regular basis is good enough.

That his teammates almost all speak English, after spending last season playing in Southwest China, must be a huge bonus for the American-born, Canadian-raised defender.

After growing up in Vancouver -- where he moved as a one-year-old from Boynton Beach, Fla. -- the return to Canada for the 27-year-old footballer follows a season spent with Guizhou Zhicheng, a club in China's League Two based in Guiyang.

Though perhaps not a typical destination for a Canadian soccer player, Trafford was looking for a new club prior to the 2013 season when he made a connection with Jamaican player Adam Wallace, who connected Trafford with his Chinese agent.

He planned a week-long visit to China to meet with the club.

"The next thing you know they wanted to sign me and I was there for the whole year," says Trafford, who appeared in 29 matches for the club.

He found himself on a team where he was one of three foreign signings on a squad of Chinese players and coaches who spoke little or no English.

"There was one Croatian who spoke pretty good English (but) the other foreigner was actually a South Korean who barely spoke any English," Trafford says of language barrier.

He says it's hard to describe the culture shock he felt to someone who hasn't been to that part of the world. Before going to China, Trafford had spent two years playing in Finland after a successful season with USL PRO side Real Maryland Monarchs. That followed two seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps -- he had signed there after a college soccer career at the University of Nevada -- where he won the USL Championship with teammate and now Fury assistant coach Martin Nash.

Heading to China was like none of those places, in any way.

"It's wild," he says. "Going to Beijing and doing a touristy thing is much different that going to Guiyang, the city where I was.

"It was massive cultures shock, just massive. The first three months were real tough, just everything from getting around to going to the grocery store. Nobody spoke English."

But as he adapted to the new surroundings and focused on soccer, he enjoyed the unique experience.

"It definitely has its difficulties, just getting to training we would have to hire a taxi and drive us like an hour into the mountains to get to our training camp," he says. "But in the end it was fun and I really enjoyed it."

He didn't, however, pick up much Mandarin while he was living in Asia.

"It's really bad,"he says. "I know how to tell a taxi to straight or to go left or right."

RYAN, OLIVER RETURN

In a season that hasn't had much good news on the injury front, it was good to see captain Richie Ryan and Oliver back with the starting 11 at training Friday. Both were last minute scratches from the game in Atlanta because of injury, but the team has had a full week to rest and train and the bodies appear to be healing. They are both good to go for Saturday against Tampa Bay.

Midfielder Tony Donatelli also returned the main group and appears recovered from a minor injury that kept him out of a couple days of training. Maykon, who has missed the last two matches, remains doubtful for Saturday against Tampa Bay at Keith Harris Stadium.

After the squad seemed to run out of gas in last Saturday's loss to Atlanta, coach Marc Dos Santos and the players expect to rebound in front of a home crowd.

"They're guys with a lot of character who want to win," said Dos Santos.

Midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic said the week without a Wednesday game as been good for recovery. He expects Ottawa will come out hard Saturday at home.

"What we have to do for Saturday is make sure everyone brings out a lot of energy and intensity," said Ubiparipovic. "One of the main things is going to be urgency. To get a result at home, it would be crucial for us."

Dos Santos hasn't used the injuries as an excuse, but acknowledged after practice Friday it's frustrating to have so many players out early in the club's first season.

"It's frustrating because when you design and build a team, you know that when everyone is healthy we have a team that can rival and beat any team in the league," he said. "But it's not an excuse and I won't use it as an excuse. We didn't do it in Atlanta and I won't do it today."

SIDELINES

Some rain is in the forecast for Saturday and while that doesn't create the best fan experience, the players would prefer to play on wet turf at Keith Harris Stadium. The turf is hard when it's dry and has been an issue since day one. "We're actually hoping it rains," said Trafford ... The wet weather and the time kept most away from Friday's open Fury FC practice, though a handful of supporters came out to check out some of the session ... Nicki Paterson continues to rehab a knee injury but appears to be improving and couldn't be back next week. Don't expect to see Tom Heinemann any time soon though. "I'm going to announce a big player signing in July and he's already here," Dos Santos said of the big striker, who hasn't played yet this year because of a high ankle sprain suffered in the preseason. The season breaks for the World Cup in early June until July and the team isn't going to rush Heinemann back.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @chrishofley