A calf injury is still getting the best of Maxi Moralez. (Photo courtesy of MLS)

Midfielder Maxi Moralez is out of Thursday night’s New York City FC home game vs. Minnesota United.

Moralez, who suffered a calf injury in City’s 1-0 Lamar Hunt/U.S. Open Cup loss to the Red Bulls June 14, will sit out the match at Yankee Stadium.

Either Jack Harrison or Tommy McNamara will assume the role of playmaking midfielder again, depending head coach Patrick Vieira’s tactics.

Also sidelined is midfielder-forward Khiry Shelton, who is recuperating from a hamstring injury suffered in the waning minutes of the 2-0 win at the Philadelphia Union April 14. The team reported a few days later that Shelton would be out from six to eight weeks, but that his recovery is taking longer than expected.

Starting goalkeeper Sean Johnson also won’t play as he is with the U.S. national team preparing for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Americans play Ghana in a Gold Cup warm-up match in East Hartford, Conn. Saturday.

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.