Portland Thorns midfielder Tobin Heath has been continuing her rehabilitation from a lingering back injury away from Portland with the U.S. Women's National Team staff.

Heath has missed the entire NWSL season with the injury, which she suffered in preseason.

While Thorns coach Mark Parsons hasn't put a specific timeline on Heath's recovery, he reiterated Wednesday that she is making progress and he hopes she might be available to return to the club in time for the NWSL playoffs in October. The top four teams in the NWSL make playoffs.

"I'm not going to get into timelines," Parsons said. "At some point, she's going to come back to Portland to finish the rehab and we're hopeful to get her back for playoffs... Praying and dreaming, she comes back for playoffs."

The club had originally planned for Heath to make her debut on June 17, but made the decision to take a step back with her rehab when it became clear that she needed more time to get back to full health.

The Thorns put Heath on the 45-day disabled list in late June to open up a roster spot.

Portland has sorely missed Heath this season. The world-renowned midfielder led the NWSL in assists with 10 in 2016 and was a finalist for league MVP. Heath was also named U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year in 2016.

"She's so positive and driven, but at the same time it's going to take time to get it right," Parsons said. "Unless it goes right and we get it right, there's more months added. My own personal thoughts are she is one of the very best players in the world right now... My opinion is get it right and get her 100 percent healthy so she can pick up where she left off."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg