FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will welcome Jerry Bengtson back with open arms in a bid to cure their ongoing problems in the final third.
Bengtson missed last Saturday's 0-0 home draw with Sporting Kansas City to tend to international duty with the Honduran national team. In his absence, the Revs mustered just three shots toward goal and zero shots on target in their windswept home opener.
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A second consecutive scoreless outing leaves the lanky striker as the only Revolution player to tally this season. Bengtson headed home the winner on opening day at Chicago to hand the Revs their only goal and their only victory through three matches.
“We're excited to get him back and have him available on Saturday,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told MLSsoccer.com
Heaps said he watched portions of both Honduras matches over the past week – “I thought Jerry did well [in the first game] and Honduras did well to come back [against Mexico],” he said – and looked forward to including Bengtson in his squad for the weekend.
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Bengtson returned to the Boston area on Wednesday night in a bid to make his case for inclusion against FC Dallas on Saturday (4 pm ET, watch on MLS Live). Heaps said he will jockey for a spot in the lineup alongside Chad Barrett, Ryan Guy and Dimitry Imbongo ahead of the Western Conference leaders' visit.
“We've worked a few guys into that spot,” Heaps said. “You saw Chad and Ryan [there on Saturday]. Jerry joins that as more of a target guy. I think those three – and [Dimitry Imbongo] – can battle for that spot.”
