Portland Timbers midfielder Cristhian Paredes will not be available to play Saturday when the club travels to face the Philadelphia Union.

Paredes left last Wednesday’s game against the Houston Dynamo in the 33rd minute after suffering a left thigh strain.

Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said Wednesday that Paredes was progressing well, but wasn’t yet practicing fully and wouldn’t be healthy enough to play in Saturday’s game.

“He’s recovering well,” Savarese said. “He’s definitely feeling a lot better. He’s not ready yet to be able to play this weekend, but he’s progressing very well. We think he will shortly be practicing fully and ready to be able to play.”

Timbers goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic, who had to undergo surgery to repair a left tibial stress fracture after joining Portland in February, is progressing well too, Savarese said. Still, Ivacic is not yet training fully with the club and Savarese could not say when he would be healthy enough to compete for minutes.

The Timbers originally announced that Ivacic would miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery in February. It has been over 13 weeks since Ivacic had the surgery.

“He’s doing very well,” Savarese said. “We’re starting to see a lot of smiles from him because he’s getting closer and closer to being able to practice completely in the group. He’s now joining the goalkeepers in the sessions.”

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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