Rejuvenated Union not overlooking lowly Toronto

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Coming off a miraculous and potentially season-saving win over Sporting Kansas City, the revitalized Union now turn to face lowly Toronto FC on Saturday night at PPL Park.

And that makes Union manager John Hackworth a bit nervous.

“It’s important that we treat this game with the respect that it deserves,” the coach said. “And our opponent is probably much better than people give them credit for. It’s going to be a really tough game but one, that for us as an organization, is extremely important.”

In other words, Hackworth doesn’t want his team looking at the standings.

Though Toronto FC is just 5-15-1 and currently tied with Chivas USA for the second-worst point total in MLS, the Canadian club is coming off a 4-1 win over DC United -- the league’s worst team, which started all reserve and youth players in preparation for their U.S. Open Cup finals match on Tuesday.

“Their roster has been shuffled a bit but [Bright] Dike coming in and scoring a goal last week was important for them,” Hackworth said. “They are coming off a good win against DC and they will be confident coming in here.”

The Union’s tentative approach to Saturday’s match comes down to their fear of the unknown. On paper, Ryan Nelsen’s club is 1-3-1 in its last five and limping to the season’s finish. In reality, the Union believe Toronto FC to be a desperate team with confident players fighting for jobs.

“They’ve got a lot of unique little players that a lot of teams probably haven’t heard of but are guys that are good players and can make things happen,” said Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who is coming off his league-leading 11th shutout. “And they proved that against DC last weekend. We obviously have to pay attention to each player and just play our game.”

Another issue concerning the Union is that their track record against Toronto FC, regardless of record at the time, hasn’t been stellar. The Union are 3-2-4 against Toronto FC all time, including two draws earlier this season.

“We’ve had two tough games with them already and we were lucky to get a draw up there in Toronto,” Hackworth said. “This one is a tough game for us in all ways. Ryan Nelson will have his team prepared and playing with a lot of pride and they will be organized. Those players have a lot to prove. It’ll be tough for us.”

MacMath agreed.

“They’re one of those teams,” he said. “Like DC United, we somehow always struggle against them for some reason. Hopefully, we can change that this weekend.”

The key to competing with TFC this season has been Jack McInerney. In both draws against TFC, the Union needed stoppage-time goals from McInerney to preserve a point. Hackworth hopes the young forward will break out of a deepening 13-game scoring slump.

“I hope Jack McInerney can get back on the score sheet,” the coach said. “He had success against Toronto and it would be a great time for him to break out and get one, two or however many he can put in the back of the net.”

Coming off a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City last Friday at Sporting Park, the 11-10-9 Union broke a five-game winless run and three-game scoring drought when Conor Casey managed to pound home a first-half goal. The win brought the Union back into the playoff picture, just one point ahead of the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew for the final postseason spot.

“Tactically, we have to approach the game a little differently [than against Sporting Kansas City],” Hackworth said. “Last Friday, we were the underdog and quite honestly, we’re pretty good in that role. This week, people will say we’re at home and that we have to win to keep pace in the playoff race. The pressure is truly on us this week and that’s OK. Everyone in our locker room would want it that way with four games to play.”

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