Chris Armas said “we don’t want to take any risks” with Aaron Long,  (Photo courtesy of MLS)

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Red Bulls aren’t taking any chances.

Center back Aaron Long didn’t play in the 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo at the Visit Tucson Sun Cup on Saturday night due to a hamstring injury.

The MLS team doesn’t know when the U.S. international defender will return to play, but head coach Chris Armas isn’t rushing anything.

“It is something he has battled in the past and we are always trying to be mindful of double duty now for Aaron with the national team and us and the travel and he is an explosive player,” Armas said. “So the soft tissue with the muscles and the hamstring get tight we don’t want to take any risks this time of year. It was precautionary mostly and he has been training so he is good but he is going to be a big part of things so we have to take this situation carefully.”

Amro Tarek and Tim Parker manned the central defender spots on Saturday night.

The Red Bulls open their 25th season at FC Cincinnati on March 1.

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.