When Toronto FC last faced the Columbus Crew on July 22, the first-year MLS side was on a roll. The Reds had picked up a win and three draws in their previous four road matches, including a scoreless tie against league-leading Houston Dynamo. Toronto went into Crew Stadium looking to finish the long away stint with another positive result.
Instead, TFC dropped a 2-0 decision to the Crew in a game that could be seen as the beginning of the end of Toronto's season. It was the second scoreless result in what has become an MLS-record 822-minute scoring drought and also the first loss in a stretch of 10 games without a win.
Now, two months and a season's worth of grief later, Toronto finally gets a chance to host Columbus and try to right the ship.
"We felt we could've beaten them there and that could've changed the whole season," said defender Chris Pozniak. "We're hoping that doesn't psychologically affect us tomorrow."
With six games left in the season, TFC stands 11th in the overall league table, 10 points behind Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot. One of the teams ahead of them is Columbus, who are just three points behind the Fire. Toronto is looking to pick up its first win against the Crew after the 2-0 loss on July 22 and a 2-2 draw on May 26.
"They're coming in here trying to get a win," said Reds midfielder Maurice Edu. "The first game over there was a weird game and we got a tie out of it, and the second game we fell 2-0. So we're definitely looking to get a win because you don't want to go home at the end of the season with no positive points coming against a team. We badly need a win, we badly need a goal."
Another loss would virtually end Toronto's already slim playoff chances. TFC coach Mo Johnston admitted that he already started planning for 2008 in the wake of his club's injury woes, but said that he wasn't going to throw in the towel until the Reds were officially eliminated.
"It's very close," Johnston said. "You always look at [the standings]. Realistically, you're never out of it until it's over. We'll keep pushing this group of guys and if it's over, then we'll ... play certain younger guys to see how it goes."
Johnston said that one of his offseason moves will be to hire a strength and conditioning coach from a Premier League team in order to help stave off the fitness issues that plagued TFC.
"This group has been hampered by injuries," Johnston said. "This is a very good group, but we just don't have the depth. You see that when there's five or six injuries, the results are not there."
Saturday's match will feature Jeff Cunningham will be making his first start at forward since, ironically, that fateful July 22 game in Columbus. Cunningham had to leave after just seven minutes with a sports hernia injury that sidelined him for the better part of two months and at one point threatened to end his season.
Cunningham returns just as fellow striker Danny Dichio might be finished for the season. Dichio hasn't played since tearing a muscle in his right foot during a training session on Sept. 4.
"Danny's probably done for the year," said Johnston. "There's no use in bringing Danny back at 60-75 percent of fitness. Danny needs to be healthy and pushing through."
Other scratches of note include defender Marvell Wynne, who injured his hamstring in last week's scoreless draw with Real Salt Lake. Defender Adam Braz, who would normally take Wynne's place in the backfield, will also miss the game due to observance of Yom Kippur.
This means that Pozniak is looking at 90 minutes on Saturday in spite of suffering from a nagging knee injury. The Canadian defender missed part of Friday's training session after suffering a midfield collision but will likely play pending the results of a pregame fitness test.
"I got a knock on my Achilles, but it wore off," Pozniak said. "It's OK. Let's say I'm 85 percent."
The good news for TFC is that the Crew have been struggling almost as much as they have. Columbus is 0-4-3 since beating Toronto and are coming off a crushing loss in their last game. Kansas City scored twice in stoppage time to hand the Crew a 3-2 loss last Saturday.
Johnston said one of his team's top priorities is controlling Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who scored twice against the Reds on July 22. The Argentinean star suffered a hamstring injury two weeks ago and missed the Kansas City game due to accumulation of yellow cards.
"Schelotto we need to close down," Johnston said. "We need to stop the areas on free kicks and corner kicks because he's very good at it. I don't know how his hamstring is, but I expect him and Frankie Hejduk [who also missed a game due to suspension] to come back in."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
