Aurelien Collin had his best day of training Thursday. (Photo courtesy of MLS)

HANOVER, N.J. — Don’t expect be see Aurelien Collin in the Red Bulls’ 18 Saturday night.

Head coach Jesse Marsch said the veteran center back is just about ready to play, just not against the New England Revolution.

Collin has been sidelined for four successive games after suffering a strain in his abdominal muscle during practice leading up to the game against Chicago Fire April 29.

“I just spoke with him. He’s probably not ready for this weekend,” Marsch said after training at the Red Bull Training Facility Thursday. “But today he said it was his best day. Hopefully, we’ll get him on the field soon. We’re making progress.”

Marsch was encouraged by the progress made by midfielder Mike Grella, who put in an hour’s worth of work in the 1-1 draw against Toronto FC last Friday.

He felt the Glen Cove, N.Y. native can go at least 60 minutes Saturday. Who knows? Perhaps more.

“We’ll make a decision exactly on who we use in those spots,” Marsch said. “I think Mike, it was good to get him for 60 minutes. He could have gone longer. But the way the game was going, I thought it was better to get fresh legs on. I think he’s pretty close, not all way to 90 minutes.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.