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Sandy • Aaron Maund stood in the crowd, surrounded by his teammates at midfield, as forwards and midfielders took turns firing shots on goal in Saturday morning's training session at Rio Tinto Stadium. Maund was finally back in his element, joking with Kyle Beckerman and members of the Real Salt Lake coaching staff, teasing guys whose attempts on goal either went wayward or were stopped.

"It's definitely a weight off my chest to be out here with the guys, getting back running, getting the touches back and just being out there in the environment I've grown accustomed to," explained Maund.

For the first time in over two months, the RSL starting center back was back on the pitch this week sporting his bright orange cleats. The 26-year-old defender, now a staple of the back line, suffered a sesamoid fracture — a small bone under the toe — on his right foot the first week of August after starting 20 of RSL's first 23 regular-season matches.

The best season of his professional career was thrown into immediate flux. As the RSL training staff and team doctors sorted out the ideal way to handle the fracture, Maund thought his 2016 season could be over. He spent a few weeks on a scooter, keeping weight off his right foot. Then he transitioned to time in a regular walking boot for nearly a month. Next came a week in a smaller walking boot.

When surgery was eventually ruled out, the timeline to return to training was around the second week of October, where Maund was this weekend, doing technical drills, short bursts of sprinting and rehabilitation work for his foot. Maund worked to stay up on his fitness levels by working out in both underwater and anti-gravity treadmills every other day.

"I think my fitness is at a good spot right now," he said. "Obviously not game-fit yet. It's more of a big picture thing. I just want to get back to where I was and keep progressing from there."

Since lacing up his cleats again, there's been zero pain or discomfort, which is a positive sign considering his time away. Next week, he expects to up his amount of work on the training field and has his eye on a possible return.

"Should be not too far off," Maund said.

Yura back, Schuler in

Some familiar faces returned to the RSL starting lineup in Sunday's regular-season home finale. Forward Yura Movsisyan (nine goals, three assists) started in the center of the RSL forward attack for the first time since Sept. 17 against the Houston Dynamo. The 29-year-old striker has been battling a severe heel bruise on his left foot the last month.

Center back Chris Schuler earned his second start of the season alongside Justen Glad. Schuler's previous start came in RSL's 1-0 loss at Portland on Sept. 10. He replaced Jamison Olave next to Glad.

ATL gets first pick expansion draft

Atlanta United, one of two MLS expansion franchises entering the league in 2017, won a coin flip toss Sunday to choose priority for the six league mechanisms that will help Atlanta and Minnesota United select their inaugural rosters. Atlanta chose to select first in the upcoming 2016 Expansion Draft on Dec. 13, where both clubs can select as many as five players from a list of unprotected players.

ckamrani@sltrib.com Twitter: @chriskamrani