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Its been 14 games and 98 days since Toronto FC fullback Richard Eckersley hurt his hamstring. Somewhat embarrassingly, he suffered the injury celebrating teammate Darel Russells tying goal March 6 against FC Dallas. "Ive learned my lesson," the 24-year-old English defender said with a sheepish smirk. "When other people score then Ill just relax a little bit. But it was the 92nd minute. I think emotions got the better of me. . . . Its happened. I cant really do much about it." Finally healthy - he aggravated the injury during convalescence - Eckersley should see action Saturday as Toronto (2-8-7) visits Sporting Kansas City (8-5-6). Kansas City, which has a 17-point edge over Toronto in the standings, won 2-1 in Chicago last weekend and is undefeated in its last four league outings and in seven of its last eight. Toronto is coming off a bye weekend. Its last outing was July 3 when it blew a 3-1 lead and had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the visiting Montreal Impact. In 2011 and 2012, Eckersley was almost a club constant seeing action in 56 games. This season, the number is just five. Suspensions, international call-ups and injuries have not helped the Toronto backline in recent weeks. Manager Ryan Nelsen has been forced to shift centre back Darren ODea to left fullback and has been playing Ryan Richter at right back in Eckersleys absence. Eckersleys return is welcome for all those reasons. And because he is a tireless runner and a gritty defender who helps drive Toronto. But in the longer run, while the club has said nothing publicly, Eckersleys salary is a problem in a league where the salary cap is a tight US$2.95 million. Listed at $310,000 (and it may be bigger if Toronto has used allocation money to reduce the amount listed against the salary cap), the red-headed Brit makes more than the high-priced defenders voted into the Fan XI for the 2013 all-star game: Kansas Citys Matt Besler ($200,000) and Aurelien Collin ($256,250), and Los Angeles Omar Gonzalez ($282,000). According to the MLS Players Union TFC salary list, Eckersley is the teams third highest-paid player after Dutch striker Danny Koevermans (a designated player with a $1.663-million salary) and defender-captain Darren ODea (whose $465,250 is also problematic). And Eckersleys contract is guaranteed for next season. Spending $300,000-plus on a fullback in MLS is like buying a Prada toilet brush. Its handy and nice to have. But can you justify buying it? Richter, Eckersleys replacement, makes $35,125. The injury has not helped matters, since Eckersley has been reduced to an expensive spectator. Toronto president Kevin Payne, however, admits the club could have handled Eckersleys injury better. "Players, especially younger players like Richard, their enthusiasm sometimes get the better of them," Payne told reporters this week. "And we probably rushed Richard back a little bit or allowed him to rush himself back a little bit. So I think we learned something from that one." Said Eckersley: "I never really rested it the first time round. Obviously I was trying to get back as soon as possible. So I think we didnt give it time to rest and repair itself." He says the injury took a mental toll, "because youre paid to play football and you cant do it." "So you take it out on other members of your family. But they understand. There were times when I was a little bit down but like I say its injuries and youre a footballer, youre a professional athlete and youve got to learn how to deal with them." While Eckersley has been a regular in the TFC lineup, he is no stranger to long-term injury. The former Manchester United youth product had a back injury when he was 17. Striker Danny Koevermans in unavailable Saturday with a calf issue but Robert Earnshaw is healthy again. Toronto is short in midfield with Jonathan Osorio at the Gold Cup with Canada and Luis Silva traded to D.C. United. Still Kansas City manager Peter Vermes calls Toronto an athletic side not to be underestimated. "I think theyre better than they were last year," he told a news conference this week. "I say it all the time. I dont think that record is a good indicator of what kind of team youre playing in this league because theres so much parity." Toronto defeated Kansas City 2-1 at the Rogers Centre in March in the second game of the season for both teams. "I dont think were going to forget that," said Vermes, referring to "soft goals" his team gave away that day. NOTES — Torontos career record in Kansas City is 1-6-1 Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks.Gujarat Lions moved two points clear at the summit of the IPL after besting Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in Sundays top-of-the-table clash. Suresh Rainas men - who began the day in second spot behind Kolkata on run rate - tore through their opponents top order at Eden Gardens, reducing the hosts to 24-4 within six overs.Shakib Al Hasan (66no off 49) and Yusuf Pathan (63no off 41) rescued the innings, adding an unbeaten 134 for the fifth wicket from 85 deliveries and walloping 70 from the final six overs as Knight Riders scored 158.But Dinesh Karthik (51 off 29) and a brutal late cameo from Aaron Finch (29 off 10) ensured Gujarat Lions responded to back-to-back defeats and Kolkata slipped to third, following Sunrisers Hyderabads demolition of Mumbai Indians. Dhawal Kulkarni and Suresh Raina celebrate a wicket Praveen Kumar made the initial breakthroughs for Gujarat, bowling Gautam Gambhir (5) around his legs and having Manish Pandey (0) caught behind, though Raina provided the most eye-catching moment, taking a one-handed stunner at slip to remove Suryakumar Yadav (4).Shakib and Pathan halted the procession of wickets before becoming more expansive around the halfway mark, with Pathan nailing chinaman Shivil Kaushik for six and four from successive balls.ddddddddddddShakib blasted four maximums in his innings, each of them off Dwayne Bravo, including back-to-back smears down the ground in the 18th over and a swat over deep midwicket in the 20th. Shakib Al Hasans impressive half-century came in a losing cause The Bangladesh star then bowled Dwayne Smith (27 off 18) in the sixth over of Gujarats reply, while Brendon McCullum (29 off 24) spliced down the ground in the eighth, having bashed Morne Morkel for two sixes in the previous over.Karthik soon took up the boundary-scoring mantle, dispatching three consecutive Brad Hogg deliveries to the fence and hooking Umesh Yadav for a maximum before he was stumped towards the death.Finch marmalised the spin duo of Shakib and Piyush Chawla prior to being run out, while Ravindra Jadeja smote the match-winning maximum as Gujarat prevailed with two overs to spare.Catch more IPL action on Monday as Kings XI Punjab host Royal Challengers Bangalore. That clash is live on Sky Sports 2 from 3pm. ' ' '