Availability report: Squad depth to show and Short-Term Agreements signed

In Tuesday's media availability, head coach Ronny Deila referenced the last time Atlanta United played a match with squad rotation due to a FIFA international window: March 22 at Cincinnati. There's a chance Thursday's match at New York City doesn't look all that different.

Sure, the FCC match fell in the first international window, and the Thursday night road trip for Atlanta United will technically be outside the second window. But with many of the 5-Stripes' international representatives playing in matches Monday and Tuesday of this week, there's a good chance Deila will have to change the squad in the same way he did against Cincinnati. Depth becomes a premium, something Atlanta United prides themselves on.

In that March 22 match, Deila made three changes to his previous starting XI. There's no way to say for sure, but it might be more this time around. Atlanta United will kick off against NYCFC at 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, June 12 looking for their first road win of the season.

"We have to see tonight how much they play," Deila said after training Tuesday. "... We need to put up our team in the best shape as possible with what is available. The good thing is that we [have] other players now to get opportunities. Last time we gave [them] that, they did really well against Cincinnati, so we have a good experience from that in the last break."

Wednesday's availability report only lists players with injuries, of which there are five for Atlanta United. Josh Cohen and Cayman Togashi will be out for an extended period of time with separate injuries announced in the last week. Stian Gregersen and Tristan Muyumba remain sidelined with quad and knee injuries, respectively. Edwin Mosquera was also listed, as he picked up an adductor injury recently, although Deila called the knock "small" on Tuesday.

The amount that will join the squad but not play is another story, but the 5-Stripes are ready and flexible, as they showed against Cincinnati.

They're also calling in reinforcements. Two players will join the squad from Atlanta United 2 on Short-Term Agreements, Cooper Sanchez and Nyk Sessock. Both were given Short-Term Agreements for the March 22 Cincinnati match as well. Per MLS roster rules, each club is allowed to sign a player to a maximum of four Short-Term Agreements each season — this will be the second for Sanchez and Sessock. Sanchez signed his professional contract with the 2s July 2, 2024, and Sessock signed Feb. 24 of this year. They've both played in double-digit matches for Atlanta United 2 this season and have trained with the first team on many occasions.