VANCOUVER -- When Andy OBrien went down with a hamstring injury in Seattle, he did not expect to miss much time. But the recovery took two months. "Its certainly been a bit longer than I wanted it to," said OBrien. "As the weeks went by, I stopped putting a target on what game I would be actually back for." OBrien, who felt like the had been "shot in the leg" when hurt in early June, is expected to make his return to the Vancouver lineup Saturday when the Whitecaps host the San Jose Earthquakes. The 34-year-old Harrogate, England native has missed nine games after he expected to miss just one. "Its good now being able to talk to you about, maybe, being available for the first team," said OBrien following a practice Friday. OBriens return is timely because fellow central defender Brad Rusin is slated to miss the game with an ankle injury. Rusin, injured last weekend in a 1-1 tie at Portland, is out for the third time this season. The 26-year-old Crown Point, Ind., natives absence adds to the ongoing woes of a back line that has battled injuries all season long. OBrien, who signed a one-year contract extension this week, appears unlikely to start. But he could see some minutes off the bench as he eases his way back into action while the Whitecaps prepare for the stretch drive of the season. "Hes been out for longer than we thought, and hes a very important player for us," said Vancouver coach Martin Rennie. "He brings a lot of experience and leadership, so its nice to have him back." Prior to joining the Whitecaps, OBrien, who has overcome a public battle with depression, made nearly 500 appearances with English clubs including Premier League sides Bradford, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Bolton. The dual British-Irish citizen also played in the UEFA Champions League with Newcastle United and was a member of the Republic of Irelands 2002 FIFA World Cup squad. He will provide a calming presence to a club that has seen its string of success start to unravel lately. The Whitecaps have only one point -- from the key draw against Portland -- in the last three games after going unbeaten in six. Heading into this weekends play, the Whitecaps (9-7-6) sit tied for fourth place in the Western Conference but the Earthquakes (8-9-6) can pull even with Vancouver with a victory. Despite their low position, the Earthquakes are not languishing. San Jose has won three games in a row, posting two clean sheets in the process, and finds itself only three points back of the Whitecaps. The Earthquakes have turned their season around since Vancouver native Mark Watson, a former Canadian national team player with 78 international caps, was appointed interim coach. Watson was elevated from his assistants post, a position he has also held with Canadas national mens team. He replaced former coach Frank Yallop, another Vancouverite and former Canadian coach, who parted ways with San Jose in June. Rennie is not putting emphasis on the games significance in the standings. "Looking at the table isnt that important," said Rennie. "Whats really important is how we play and how we go about our job. a You could win three in a row and still be in the same position if other teams win." Meanwhile, Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted will make his second consecutive start after seeing his first action with the club last weekend in Portland. "Im looking forward to coming into B.C. Place and meeting the fans and having my first home game," he said. Ousted, a former Danish Superliga star who signed with the Whitecaps in late June, will be counted on to help the Whitecaps maintain their strong record at home, where they are 7-1-3 this season. One opponent who could test him is striker Chris Wondolowski, who has seven goals in six career games against the Whitecaps. Wondolowski, the leagues most valuable player in 2012, scored two goals for San Jose last week against Chivas USA after missing a month while he was away playing for the American side that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The 31-year-old Danville, Calif., native led the U.S. with five goals. While he attempts to maintain his good form, Ousted hopes a strong home effort will help him earn more starts. "Its important to get into a run of games and get in there and be comfortable with the back four and with the team," said the 28-year-old native of Greve, Denmark. "Its been good for me getting to know the guys, and I hope to play a lot of games from now on." Notes: Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson is eligible to return after serving a one-game suspension for head-butting a Philadelphia player July 27, while fellow Caps midfielder Gershon Koffie will return after serving a one-game ban for yellow-card accumulation. a Vancouvers Nigel Reo-Coker and San Joses Steven Lenhart face an automatic one-game suspension for their next yellow cards. a Vancouvers Darren Mattocks continues to recuperate from arthroscopic knee surgery, but has yet to resume training with the team. Fellow striker Kenny Miller will return after missing last weekends game with a groin injury. ... San Jose defender Ty Harden (hip) and Peter McGlynn (undisclosed) are out with injuries. Air Max Tn Ultra Plus . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Air Max 97 Black And White . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. http://www.fundfdr.org/air-max-360-2017.html . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. Nike Tn Trainers Sale . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Nike Air Max Tn Womens . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Haryana stormed into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011-12, as they beat Tripura by 119 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Resuming on 186 for 4, Haryana lost their last six wickets for 75. Needing 314 to win, Tripura, who slumped to 65 for 7, were bowled out for 195.They were in danger of losing halfway into the second session, but Haryana were defied briefly courtesy counter-attacking knocks from Manisankar Mura Singh (60) and Gurinder Singh (62) in a 119-run stand. Sanjay Pahal, the medium pacer, picked up three wickets, while Harshal Patel, who took a five-for in the first innings, finished with match haul of 7 for 60. The win was largely set up by Nitin Sainis second-innings ton.Andhra dismissed Hyderabad for 143 before declaring on 171 for 6 in Lucknow, in a bid to beat their opponents and leapfrog into the knockouts. Hyderabad, chasing 219 to win, finished the day on 13 for 1, and need to simply draw the match to move on to the quarter-finals, while their opponents need nine wickets on the final day to win and qualify.Hyderabad, who started the day on 81 for 5, were all out 62 runs later as Paidikalva Vijaykumar finished with figures of 4 for 40. He was assisted by D Siva Kumar and spinner Bhargav Bhatt, who shared two wickets apiece, to dismiss their opponents inside the mornings first 30 overs.Andhras second innings lasted only 29.3 overs as they went at a rate of 5.79 to score 171 runs before declaring. Hanuma Vihari hit a 54-ball 57 while Prasanth Kumar scored a brisk 36. Medium-pacer Mohammed Siraj took his second four-wicket haul of the season during Andhras pursuit of quick runs.An unbeaten ton from Sachin Baby saw Kerala bat through to finish on 271 for 5 in Delhi, trailing Services by 51 runs. Haryanas win earlier in the day had put Kerala our of contention for the knockouts.They had started the day on 31 for 1 and lost Rohan Prem off the seventh delivery, soon followed by Salman Nazir. Medium-pacer Diwesh Pathania (2-74) removed both of them. Kerala were then reduced 74 for 4 after Bhavvin Thakkar (32) was bowled by Irfan Khan.dddddddddddd But they were revived courtesy a 187-run partnership between Baby and Jalaj Saxena (84). The duo batted almost 60 of the days 86 overs before Saxena was removed by Irfan, who finished the day with figures of 3 for 73. Baby remained not out on 112 as play ended with Akshay Chandran (6) at the other end.Sumeet Vermas career-best 160 and Prashant Chopras 194 hauled Himachal to 528 as they gave themselves a realistic chance to walk away with at least three points in their clash against Goa in Mumbai. Goa were 99 for 2 at stumps, still trailing by 49 runs.Himachal, resuming on 254 for 2, were driven by Sumeet and Prashant, who added 78 to their overnight stand of 163 before Prashant fell six short of a double century. His counter-attacking 170-ball knock consisted of 23 fours and seven sixes. Himachal lost a few quick wickets after his dismissal, but Sumeet stitched together a 108-run stand for the sixth wicket with Bipul Sharma to frustrate Goa and take HP past the 380 they had posted. Bipul scored a 58-ball 60 during the partnership which came at a slightly faster rate than HPs overall scoring rate of 5.42.In Gwalior, Chhatisgarh took their lead to 229 after finishing on 101 for 1 at stumps against Jammu & Kashmir. Earlier in the day, Sumit Ruikar had finished with 5 for 59 to dismiss J&K for 242.J&K, who started the day on 33 for 2, suffered two batting collapses on either side of 101-run stand for the fifth wicket between Ian Dev Singh (48) and Parvez Rasool (98). They lost their first four wickets for 67 runs and their last six for 72, as Ruikar picked up J&Ks last five batsmen to give Chhattisgarh a 128-run lead.Chhatisgarhs openers added 72 runs to that lead, before Sahil Gupta (33) fell to Rasool. His opening partner Manoj Singh (45) remained unbeaten with Amandeep Khare (17*) to see off the remaining overs without any casualties. ' ' '