FRISCO, Texas ā All of a sudden, perhaps the biggest concern for FC Dallas ahead of the Western Conference Championship is the health and productivity of their forwards.
Two of the three goals in the Western Conference semifinal series against Real Salt Lake came from midfielders (Eric Avila and Dax McCarty), while Jeff Cunningham notched the other after subbing in for injured forward Milton RodrĆguez in the first game of the series.
FC Dallas travel to the Home Depot Center to face the LA Galaxy on Sunday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
āWeāre getting a lot of good goals from our midfielders,ā Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said. āFor us to continue to improve, our frontrunners have got to get more goals and be more dangerous. When they get more opportunities, theyāve got to put them away.ā
With RodrĆguez sill on the shelf with a right groin injury, itās looking more and more like Cunningham will get the start again, with Ruben Luna backing him up. Hyndman called RodrĆguezās injury āpretty seriousā on Monday.
[inline_node:321431]Cunningham started his first game of the 2010 playoffs on Saturday and had several key chances, but the FCD manager admits the veteran striker remains something of a wild card.
āThe thing with Jeff is you donāt really know what youāre going to get," Hyndman admitted. "You donāt know if itās going to be fantastic or average. If heās on, heās very, very good.
"I thought he had a header in the beginning of the first half that he could have done better with. Second half, he had a couple of breakouts on the counter and one time, he should have laid the ball off. Instead, he tried to dribble through two guys. That could have been a big difference.ā
Luna made his playoff debut late in the second half at Real Salt Lake and had several chances, but failed to capitalize on any of those opportunities. Still, his head coach remains quite high on his young striker.
āIāve already told Ruben on Wednesday Iāll go through a few things with him,ā Hyndman said. āHeās a little bit disconnected with the team in the defending shape, which you would expect since he hasnāt played that much. But the effort heās giving us is tremendous. Heās strong in the air, both offensively and defensively.ā
Talking Injuries
Right back Heath Pearce did have the wrap off his hamstring and trained lightly with the team on Monday, but heās still not likely to return this weekend.
āI donāt know," Hyndman said of Pearce's playing prospects on Saturday. "I think heās probably more hoping and praying that heāll be part of the championship game. I think these next few days might be a little bit too early for him.ā
As for versatile Brazilian rookie Jackson, he continues to be slowed a bit by the cumulative effects of all the knocks heās taken since joining the team in August.
āSince Jackson has been with us, his bodyās really taken a beating," Hyndman said. "He puts it all on the line. I didnāt think it was one of his better games but I think the game that we put him in here against Real Salt Lake, that was a game for him to sit out and he played with courage. It hurt him for this game.ā
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