FC Edmonton’s new captain will be out with a torn MCL By Steven Sandor Posted on March 8, 2013 2 0 750 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Albert Watson with the captain's armband. Albert Watson is FC Edmonton’s new captain, but there’s a chance that he might not be ready to wear the armband for the team when the season kicks off in April, The club confirmed Friday that Watson has torn the MCL in his right knee. Watson had an MRI done on the knee this week. The former Northern Ireland U21 captain and the team will have a better idea Monday on how long he’ll be out. Watson suffered the injury in Monday’s friendly on the Commonwealth Fieldhouse turf against a CIS University All-Star squad. During Tuesday’s match, he spent the entire session on the training table, with his knee wrapped and iced. Of course, the Watson injury raises questions. As the new captain, there was little doubt that FCE Coach Colin Miller saw Watson as a regular part of the starting XI. And, Paul Hamilton, who finished 2012 on the NASL Best XI, is still in camp but hasn’t signed with the club. Hamilton isn’t talking to the media, preferring to let his play in camp speak for him, and Miller said his relationship with the player is good. As well, Vancouver sources have reported that Whitecaps defender Carlyle Mitchell would come to Edmonton on loan; but Mitchell has yet to appear in the Alberta capital, and a torn Achilles suffered last weekend Jay DeMerit may have required the Whitecaps to wait on a loan. FCE will not comment on Mitchell. But, the situation with Hamilton and a possible loan deal for Mitchell become even more prominent with the news that the player who is seen as the top CB option on the club is now out with a torn MCL (which, by the way, is not as serious as a torn ACL — MCL tears are often treated with rest, not surgery). There are also options of moving Lance Laing and/or Edson Edwards, fullbacks who have played in the middle of defence in the past, into a CB spot.
