The Union are shorthanded at centerback as they resume their regular season

When the Union resume their regular season Wednesday against the Columbus Crew at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., free on Apple TV), it will have been 39 days since that part of the campaign stopped for the Leagues Cup interlude.

There shouldn’t be much of a problem regaining a rhythm, since by reaching the Leagues Cup’s third-place game the Union never really got out of a rhythm in the first place. But the nine-game sprint for the playoffs that remains will be far from easy, since eight of the remaining opponents currently hold playoff spots.

The sales of José Andrés Martínez and Damion Lowe certainly don’t help either, as necessary as they were: Corinthians’ offer for Martínez was one the Union couldn’t refuse, and Lowe, who joined Saudi side Al-Akhdoud, would have left as a free agent this winter anyway.

But while Martínez’s departure got bigger headlines because of his popularity, Lowe’s departure leaves the bigger hole. The Union have defensive midfield depth in Leon Flach and newcomer Danley Jean Jacques, but they don’t have starting-caliber centerback depth beyond Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes.

» READ MORE: Damion Lowe departs the Union for a team in Saudi Arabia

Manager Jim Curtin conceded that point in his game day-eve news conference Tuesday when he said right back Nathan Harriel, who has played centerback before, would move to that spot if needed.

“If we get in a pinch, Nathan would be the third centerback,” Curtin said.

He surely hopes it won’t be needed, but there are three midweek games to come on a calendar that’s also interrupted by two FIFA windows. That’s a bad omen.

“We do recognize it’s a little bit of a risk,” Curtin said.

The only other centerback on the Union’s first-team squad is Olwethu Makhanya, who has played 16 games for the Union’s reserves but none at the top level yet.

“At Union II, I think there’s been some really good moments — there’s been some big errors as well that any young player’s going to go through, and you have to learn from,” Curtin said. “Training with the first team is not easy for him every day, but that’s what every young player needs to go through eventually. If he continues to work hard and get better each week, he’ll get his opportunity.”

» READ MORE: José Andrés Martínez’s departure from the Union to Brazil’s Corinthians is official

Major prospect Brandan Craig won’t be recalled from his loan at El Paso Locomotive of the second-tier USL Championship, since Curtin said there isn’t a recall clause in the deal — and he hinted that the Union want Craig to stay there for the rest of the year anyway.

“He’s fighting for minutes with his other club, and he’s not our player right now,” Curtin said. “He’ll continue to fight to get time there.”

Craig has played 18 games for El Paso this year and logged 1,360 minutes. He hasn’t played every game, but he has started the last five after two straight on the bench.

“It’s a situation where sometimes loans work out and they get a lot of time and experience, sometimes they don’t, as you guys have seen in the past,” Curtin said, a reference to Craig being loaned to Austin FC last year but not playing a second. “But no, he won’t be back with us this season.”

» READ MORE: José Andrés Martínez’s departure from the Union was the first of what could be a wave to come

The top centerback prospect in the Union’s system is 16-year-old Neil Pierre, already a towering presence at 6-foot-4-and-counting. He isn’t ready for the first team yet, which won’t help this year’s problem, but his time will come soon enough.

“You can’t teach 6-foot-5 and a presence in the back, but also an ability to pass with the ball through the lines, to dribble when you have to, to make a hard challenge,” Curtin said. “His trajectory and his ability, for any prospects we have, is as high as anyone, really.”

It obviously isn’t much consolation for the year as a whole, but it was nice to see Cavan Sullivan in the headlines again Monday with the Union’s reserves.

The 14-year-old smashed in a goal from nearly 30 yards against Columbus’ reserves at Subaru Park, then scored the decisive penalty in a shootout after a 1-1 tie. (All MLS Next Pro games that end in ties go to shootouts because that’s what the league wants to do.)

Union II has a 12-7-4 record so far this year, and is tied for first place with FC Cincinnati’s reserves in the Eastern Conference’s Northeast division. Sullivan has played 14 games at that level this year, with three goals and three assists.

» READ MORE: The upside of the Union not winning the Leagues Cup is their young prospects now know what it takes to get there