Portland Thorns midfielder Tobin Heath will not play in the club's season opener against the North Carolina Courage on March 24.

Heath is still working her way back to full health after undergoing ankle surgery in January.

Thorns coach Mark Parsons said that the club needs to be patient with Heath's recovery to ensure that she is 100 percent before she returns to the field. Parsons said Heath will make her regular season debut in either Portland's second, third or at latest fourth game of the year.

Prior to suffering the ankle injury, Heath missed the majority of the 2017 NWSL with a back injury.

"She's doing really well," Parsons said. "She's progressing. Things are going smoothly and the team of people that are working with her have been great. There's no way we travel her to the first game of the season and whether it's the second, third or fourth game of the season, I have no idea right now."

Heath is not the only Thorns player that is currently dealing with injury.

Midfielder Andressinha was supposed to join the Thorns last week, but picked up a knock in national team camp with Brazil. Andressinha will remain in Brazil to focus on her rehab ahead of the Copa America. She is now set to join the Thorns when the Copa America concludes at the end of April.

Defender Emily Menges had been dealing with some pain in her leg and will not play in Saturday's preseason game against the Houston Dash after already sitting out Wednesday's preseason game against the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team.

Parsons said he is hopeful that Menges will be healthy enough to feature in Portland's season opener against North Carolina, but said the veteran defender might not be able to return to the field until the club's second game of the year against the Chicago Red Stars on March 31.

"We want to get rid of that pain before we fully understand what's going on," Parsons said. "She's won't play Saturday and we're hoping she could be available for Carolina. Being very realistic, if she's not, she'll be ready for Chicago."

Winger Hayley Raso has spent the last three weeks resting due to issues in her calf and hamstring. The Australian winger will continue her rehab with the Australian Women's National Team ahead of the Asian Cup. If she is healthy enough to represent Australian in the Asian Cup, Raso will join the Thorns after the conclusion of the tournament at the end of April.

"No major concerns," said Parsons about Raso's injury.

Draft pick Gabby Seiler is rehabbing from knee surgery (LCL) and remains in school at the University of Florida. She is expected to join the Thorns in mid-May and should be nearing the end of her rehab when she arrives in Portland.

One of the club's other draft picks, Sandra Yu, is currently with the team in Portland and will be available to play in the Thorns season opener against North Carolina on March 24. Yu will return to school at the University of Notre Dame after the match and won't rejoin the Thorns until May.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg