The Fire will have a goalkeeper change for Friday night's match against the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park. Sean Johnson, who took over as the starter at midseason, will sit out after suffering an eye injury in practice on Tuesday. Andrew Dykstra, who hasn't played since a July 14 loss to Monarcas Morelia in the SuperLiga tourney, will return in goal.
Johnson's injury was diagnosed as hyphema, which resulted in internal bleed in the eye and possible visual problems. He could be available for Tuesday's home game against Kansas City. The injury developed when he took a shot in the face.
Statistically the two haven't been much different. Dykstra was 4-5-5 in 14 starts and allowed 19 goals. Johnson was 3-6-3 in 12 starts and allowed 16 goals.
The Fire will also be without Mike Banner (Achilles) against the Crew and Gonzalo Segares, John Thorrington and Baggio Husidic are questionable with quadricep strains. Nery Castillo, who did make the last two-game road trip, returned to training this week and could play against Columbus.
The Fire will also be involved in the Bank of America Marathon on Sunday, as the first pro team recognized as a charity partner of one of the world's biggest road races. The Chicago Fire Foundation has 11 runners committed to raising at least $750 for the Foundation through participation in the race, and the club will have a cheering station at the 14-mile mark.
Among those running on behalf of the team are Bill Sixsmith, a ticket sales guru, and Becky Carroll, the vice president of communications and community affairs.

The Fire used an open roster spot to sign Bratislav Ristic, 30, a well-travelled midfielder who has been training with the club on a tryout basis. He'll be available for selection once the necessary paperwork is completed.
Ristic helped Club Brugge win the Belgian Cup in 2001-02 and was the assist leader in the Ukrainian first division in 2005-06 while with Metalurh Donetsk. He started his pro career with FC Radnicki in Serbia and also played for clubs in Spain, Russia and Bulgaria.

The red card that defender Gonzalo Segares drew in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Los Angeles meant an automatic one-game suspension plus a $250 fine. Now Major League Soccer's Disciplinary Committee has decided that wasn't enough.
After reviewing the incident in which Segares collide with Galaxy defender Leonardo the Disciplinary Committee has added a second game to the suspension and another $250 to the fine. Segares will miss Wednesday's home game against Toronto and Saturday's road match at Real Salt Lake.
In a statement issued by MLS the Disciplinary Committee increased the suspension and fine on Segares because of ``the reckless nature of the action that endangered the safety of his opponent.''

The Fire played without its best defensive player in Saturday's 2-1 loss at Seattle when Wilman Conde had to serve a one-game suspension for yellow card points accumulation. Now offensive spark Freddie Ljungberg will have to miss a game for the same reason.
Ljungberg can't play in Saturday's home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy, meaning coach Carlos de los Cobos will have to shuffle his midfield during this week's training sessions. A potential offensive boost could come from Nery Castillo, who didn't make the trip to Seattle. A designated player like Ljungberg, Castillo has been slow to regain his fitness since joining the Fire and spent the weekend home working on his conditioning. The Fire would also be helped by the return of leading goal-scorer Marco Pappa. He made the trip to Seattle but didn't play, apparently because he was nursing a sore hamstring.

The Fire had two surprises when coach Carlos de los Cobos determined his travel roster for Saturday night's game at Seattle. Nery Castillo wasn't on it, but John Thorrington was.
Castillo, the first Designated Player signed by the Fire this season, still isn't fit. That was obvious in his brief game appearances since joining the Fire. He was a second-half substitute in his first appearance and played only the first half of two other matches. Castillo has been doing extra work after practices to achieve game fitness and he'll go through more extensive training under fitness coach Alvaro Briones when the team is squaring off with the Sounders.
Thorrington, meanwhile, is finally recovered from a quadricep injury that has kept him out of every game this season. He'll be on the game roster for the first time at Seattle -- a place that doesn't bring back good memories. Thorrington was ejected for drawing two yellow cards in the Fire's first visit to Seattle last season. Also ejected in that game was Freddie Ljungberg, then a member of the Sounders and now the midfield leader for the Fire. Ljungberg was the second Designated Player acquired by the Fire this season.

When the Fire visits Seattle on Saturday night there'll be some major changes in the defensive end. Right back Dasan Robinson isn't likely to play due to a hamstring injury and Wilman Conde, the All-Star central defender, will serve a yellow card suspension.
Robinson will be replaced by up-and-coming rookie Steven Kinney, but coach Carlos de los Cobos isn't sure how he'll cover for Conde. One option would be to move left back Gonzalo Segares to the middle and return Krzysztof Krol to the lineup on the left side. Segares has played in the middle before -- prior to his five-month stint playing in Cyprus.
Then too, de los Cobos could opt to keep Segares on the left and bring in rookie Kwame Watson-Siriboe to play opposite veteran C.J. Brown in the middle. Still another option would be to play Krol and Segares at the same time, with Krol playing as the central defender.

The Fire may be done with its international matches for this season, but a big one will be coming to Soldier Field on Oct. 7. The U.S. national team will take on Poland in that one.
A goal by ex-Fire player Carlos Bocanegra in the 88th minute gave the U.S. a 1-1 draw with Poland on July 11, 2004, at Soldier Field in a match that drew 40,000. The teams last met on March 26, 2008, with the U.S. romping 3-0 in Krakow, Poland.
The U.S. and Poland have met 16 times since 1924. The U.S. has a 7-7-2 record in those meetings.

Major League Soccer's Home Grown Player Initiative has been in effect since 2007, but The Fire didn't take advantage of it until signing midfielder Victor Pineda. He'll be available for Wednesday's home game against the New England Revolution.
Each MLS team can sign two home grown players and they won't be counted against the 24-man roster.
Pineda, 17, worked his way through the Fire Player Development system and was a key member of the team that won the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 national championship this summer. The Fire was the first MLS club to win that title.
The 5-11, 140-pound Pineda, who lives in Bolingbrook, played at Plainfield East High School and spent two seasons with the Chicago Fire Juniors and three with the Chicago Fire Academy, where he had eight goals and two assists in 28 games.
He also was in the U.S. U-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla., in 2008 and 2009 and was called up to the U.S. U-18 team for a trip to Argentina.
Pineda isn't the Fire's first home grown player. Brian McBride grew up in Buffalo Grove before going on to a great international career.

The Fire gave forward Patrick Nyarko a long break to recover from concussion-like symptoms before and during Major League Soccer's All-Star break, but it apparently wasn't enough.
Nyarko, one of the Fire's best offensive threats in the first half of the season, helped out in the 3-2 win at Los Angeles in the first game after the break, but his symptom surfaced again during training last week. He didn't suit up for the New York game and a team staffer said the club will be very cautious in assessing Nyarko's availability in coming weeks.
Injuries were a problem during the first half, but Calen Carr -- who still hasn't played in a match -- was on the game sheet for the meeting with the Red Bulls. John Thorrington remains out of training, as has been the case all season, with a leg injury suffered in preseason training.

Tim Ward, a veteran defender, has been traded to the San Jose Earthquakes for a conditional selection in the 2011 Major League Soccer draft. Ward was a starter at right back early in the season before being shelved by an injury. He couldn't regain his job after Dasan Robinson got himself healthy and established himself as an effective starter.
Ward played six seasons in MLS after being drafted 12th overall by the New York MetroStars in 2005. A native of Waukesha, Wis., Ward joined the Fire in 2009 and appeared in 25 games, getting three assists.