Another injury blow for Christian Dean will likely cost him the season

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Some guys just can't seem to stay healthy.

The Fire announced that Christian Dean is expected to be out two to three months with a fifth metatarsal fracture in his left foot. Dean exited Saturday's loss to Minnesota at halftime with the injury and was seen on crutches after the match.

This is the third time in the past two seasons Dean will be out significant time due to a related injury. Dean suffered the same injury in training just before the start of the 2016 season when he was with Vancouver and he missed the whole season. This season he started three of the Whitecaps' first five matches before suffering what the Whitecaps described as a "stress reaction" in training on April 25.

This time around, the Fire are calling it a fracture again. Dean is scheduled to have surgery on Sept. 1 at Midwest Orthopaedic at Rush. With less than two months left in the regular season, Dean is likely to miss the rest of the season even with a deep playoff run from the Fire.

The Fire traded for Dean on Aug. 9 to add defensive depth, which he provided just in time for a rash of injuries to the Fire back line. Dean's first game in uniform, Aug. 16 at Montreal, saw center back Joao Meira go down with a calf injury five minutes into the game. Dean was the only option off the bench in that position. He started the next two games, home losses to Toronto and Minnesota.

Dean's injury comes at a time when injuries are still a major problem for the Fire. Meira hasn't returned since leaving that game at Montreal, left back Brandon Vincent has missed the last seven games with a quad injury and right back Matt Polster has been out for three straight games with a knee injury. Of the three, Polster has appeared to be the closest to returning after being nearly a full participant in training last week.

This year, the Fire have also seen Jorge Bava go down for the year with elbow surgery and John Goossens has been out since the first game due to an ankle injury. In addition, rookie midfielder and first-round pick Daniel Johnson suffered an MCL sprain in early August and has been out since.

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