Commerce City, CO – FC Dallas will attempt to vault itself into a playoff position on Saturday with a win over the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Dallas enters the weekend two points adrift of Colorado in the race for a postseason berth, but in order to jump over the Rapids with three points on Saturday the team must find a way to improve its form away from home.
Schellas Hyndman's team has earned seven points from its last three games, and the club won its last away match, 3-1 at Chivas USA.
However, the victory over Chivas was just the team's second in 13 away contests, something that must improve down the stretch if FCD is going to book a place in the postseason.
Dallas is coming off of a 3-1 win over Vancouver last weekend as the club went behind after just four minutes, but rallied to score twice in the final five minutes to claim all three points.
The win not only moved Dallas three points clear of the Whitecaps, but Hyndman is hoping it is the kind of result that can spark something even bigger.
"This was a game, tonight's game, that is so very important for the team," Hyndman said after the match. "It's not just the three points, it's the confidence that the players have right now, the feel-good attitude and the belief that they have in each other.
"These are the types of game that, if you look at your season and say, 'Where did it turn?' you might say this was the game. We hope that that is the case."
The Rapids will be hoping to halt that momentum with their third win in four games on Saturday, which would also strengthen the team's hold on a playoff spot.
Colorado's 1-0 win over Los Angeles last weekend kept the team's own positive momentum going as the Rapids have lost just once in their last 11 contests.
Lately it has been the play of Edson Buddle that has been a big difference as the former Galaxy forward scored the lone goal in the win against his old side, giving him a goal in each of his last three games.
And with things as tight as they are in the Western Conference, Buddle knows how important it is to take advantage of games at home.
"It's good to be at home because of the altitude," Buddle said following the win over the Galaxy. "Right now, like I said, all these games, because the standings are so tight that every point counts, we just want to capitalize on being home. They [FC Dallas] are not an easy team. I think we were up 2-0, last time we played them, and they were able to get an equalizer so we have to build on this game. We will enjoy this win and get better during the week."
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