Red Bulls’ Sean Nealis ‘question mark’ for Eastern Conference final

The status of defender Sean Nealis remains up in the air for Saturday’s Eastern Conference final against Orlando City SC, potentially setting the stage for the Red Bulls to turn to a young player to fill the gap in the organization’s biggest game in six years.

Nealis exited Saturday’s conference semifinal match against New York City FC late in the game after a violent collision with Justin Haak and did not return due to a concussion.

Nealis was doing individual work on Wednesday at the Red Bulls training facility in New Jersey, but head coach Sandro Schwarz said in a post-practice news conference that the defender was a “question mark” for the weekend.

Nealis, a Long Island native, will be checked out over the next few days before a determination is made.

If the MLS veteran is not able to play, 22-year-old Swedish defender Noah Eile will likely take his place on the pitch.

Eile subbed in for Nealis after he left with an injury, which occurred in the 59th minute, and the youngster had been a regular starter at center back during the regular season.

He has come into matches off the bench during the postseason.

The opportunity on Saturday would be the biggest one he’s had since joining the MLS side, but Eile told The Post that he wasn’t giving it much thought.

“I think I’ve done the same the whole season to not think about anything like that,” he said after practice. “Just try to play and train and then I don’t think about what’s going to happen. You can’t affect anything that’s going to happen on Saturday today. I think just try and train. Do what you have in front of you today and do the best of that, and try to focus on that.”

Orlando will prove to be another challenge for the Red Bulls.

Star Facundo Torres has two goals in the playoffs and had 14 in the regular season, and goalkeeper Pedro Gallese has produced three clean sheets through Orlando’s four playoff matches.

The bigger stage and the possibility of greater responsibility for Eile haven’t brought on extra nerves for the young defender.

“I would say, you always have nerves I think for every game,” he said. “I wouldn’t say particularly special nerves. I think everyone’s a bit more excited for playoff games. But then I haven’t thought about starting or not starting too much about that. I think, I think you’ll try to keep the same level of nerves for every game. I think that’s important you don’t get too low or too high on emotions.”

Eile said he hopes that Nealis is available to play in Orlando and described him as “an important member” of the Red Bulls.

The Red Bulls are making their first conference final appearance since 2018 after defeating NYCFC at Citi Field.

The rivalry match marked the first time that the area’s two MLS clubs had squared off in the playoffs and certainly created an emotional high for the Red Bulls, who vigorously celebrated the conquest of their rivals.

Eile said the club did a good job of grounding itself after the win over NYCFC.

Red Bulls star Lewis Morgan said during a news conference on Wednesday that the win over their local rival can’t be the club’s peak this season.

“That game is done and for me, the biggest game now is against Orlando this weekend,” Morgan said. “We’ve got to make sure we [remember] we’ve not won anything yet and we still have a lot of stuff to do on the field.”