Photo: Courtesy of Bethlehem Steel

In his weekly teleconference with reporters on Wednesday, Bethlehem Steel head coach Brendan Burke indicated that center back Mickey Daly’s roster rights have been traded to NASL-side Carolina RailHawks for both a loan fee and a transfer fee.

Bethlehem announced on July 21 that Daly had been loaned to the RailHawks “for one month with an option for Carolina to purchase.” Since joining the RailHawks, who are currently in seventh place in the 12-team NASL, Daly has made six appearances, including four starts, playing 426 minutes.

While commenting on another matter Coach Burke also indicated that part of the reason the organization was open to Daly’s departure was to clear space next season for Mark McKenzie to have a chance to receive high quantity, high quality game minutes. Burke compared McKenzie’s anticipated situation for next year to Auston Trusty’s in 2016. McKenzie is recovering well from his current injury, but it will be tight whether he sees the field for the Steel again this season.

In the context of the conversation, Burke juxtaposed McKenzie’s name not only with right center back but also with right back, and mentioned when questioned that Ryan Richter has had some experience at center back.

Burke also pointed out that end-of-season conversations between the organization and each individual player have obviously not yet occurred, so speculating about next season is precisely that, speculating only.