The Fire’s run of injuries has forced players who might otherwise have spent the early part of their professional careers picking up minutes in USL with Tulsa to step up and perform on a first-team level this season.



Rookies Elliot Collier, Diego Campos and Mo Adams all started in Saturday’s loss in Columbus. Collier and Campos, more so than Adams, have struggled for consistency, although Adams has also had some ups and downs outside of his exceptional performance in shutting down Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti last week.



Veteran defender Kevin Ellis has chipped in at right back in the absence of Matt Polster, and it appears that he will continue to get opportunities there for some time. Polster, the team’s longest tenured player, has been out of action since mid-March with a right MCL sprain. The original prognosis for his return was 5-6 weeks.



Coach Veljko Paunovic noted the team will issue a statement soon on the status of...