Bernardeschi back in training

Coach says they’ve moved on from star’s criticism, benching

Federico Bernardeschi was back on the training field Tuesday after being benched by Toronto FC coach Bob Bradley for Saturday’s 2-1 home win over D.C. United.

Bradley opted to sit out Bernardeschi in the wake of the Italian star’s critical comments about the club’s style of play following a 1-0 loss at Austin FC.

“We had discussions last week. A lot of work went on ... aimed towards the idea that he would be back with the group this week, and that’s the case,” Bradley said after training Tuesday.

Bernardeschi, who leads TFC in goals (three), shots (34) and shots on goal (14), was not made available to reporters.

TFC, at 3-5-7, will look to build on Saturday’s win in Wednesday’s date with the Chicago Fire at BMO Field. Bradley said Bernardeschi will be in the lineup, but stopped short of saying he would start. He had started every game before Saturday.

Asked if last week was behind the team, Bradley replied: “Yeah, you work hard, you look at things, you talk through things, challenge guys, move on.”

Against D.C., Toronto played like a team that had something to prove. Bradley said the performance followed plenty of one-on-one discussions last week.

“What I tried to get across to different guys was that, whether it’s in football or in life, you can have a moment where all of a sudden things start flying around you and you’ve got to find your way in that moment to be real and be yourself,” Bradley said.