TORONTO – Jermain Defoe is healthy and fighting fit, Gilberto is rested and ready to go, the midfield tandem of Jonathan Osorio and Michael Bradley has been fine-tuned, Steven Caldwell has returned to lead the backline and there are no significant injuries left in the roster.
Toronto FC boss Greg Vanney has a healthy group of players comes just at the right time, in the club’s most critical part of the year.
It’s crunch time for TFC.
With four games to go in the season, Toronto are on the outside looking in at a playoff spot, three points behind the Columbus Crew in the race for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. But Toronto FC have a game in hand and the tiebreaker advantage over their rivals from Ohio.
It all sets up for an exciting few weeks for Toronto FC, who may finally break their playoff duck for the first time in franchise history this year. That is, as long as their fitness holds and the results go their way.
“Our No. 1 concern is the health and preparation, physically, of each of the guys,” Vanney told MLSsoccer.com. “I think, through the past several games, we’re starting to get a better identity of who we are and our relationships on the field. As long as we have our full compliment of players ready to play and at 100 percent, then I think we understand the tactics of things, so now it’s about going out and putting in good, aggressive performances out on the field. If we do that, we have a good chance of getting a result.
“When we’re aggressive, we’ve proven to be very difficult to handle,” he added. “We have a lot of attacking weapons who look to get forward. Now, our outside backs are starting to get into the attack a little bit more, which provides us with more numbers moving forward.”
The club’s next test will be against the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE, TSN in Canada) as the Reds host the Texan side at BMO Field. It's a side missing Honduran internationals Luis Garrido and Boniek Garcia, and there's only one acceptable result for the home side.
- Find more Reds news and notes at TorontoFC.ca
“Houston, at the end of the day, has really nothing to lose at this point,” Vanney said. “They have an outside chance of squeezing in if a lot of things go in their favor, so I imagine they’ll be fairly relaxed in that way. They’ll come out to play and try to get a result.
“It’s a must-win for us,” he added. “Not just the Houston game, but these two home games. I think they’re must-wins, not just for us but also to drive our fans and the crowd. They deserve that. We need to do this at home and we need to win these games.”
His players have gotten the message loud and clear.
“This is our biggest game of the year, and every game will become our biggest game from now on,” Osorio said. “It’s a huge one on Wednesday, and definitely one where we need all three points.”
