Just when it looked like the Houston Dynamo were going to have a little more firepower for their next MLS match, that little black cloud that has been following the team around for a few weeks dumped another few buckets of despair.
After dropping a hard-fought 2-1 decision in Seattle on a goal by former Dynamo defender Pat Ianni, Houston quickly got back two players, Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell, who were forced to sit due to yellow card accumulation.
But this week, the Orange will have to travel to Toronto, one of the hottest teams in MLS right now, without midfielder Richard Mulrooney and defender Brad Davis. Neither will make the trek to Toronto, a place where the Dynamo has never won, due to knee surgery and the flu, respectively.
"It's kind of a bummer because you are getting two guys back from suspension and then you are missing two more guys due to injury and illness," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "We are getting a lot of things thrown at us right now, but like a told the guys in practice, the attitude that we showed in Seattle, is that if everyone works hard and sticks together, you give yourself a chance. I thought we did that in Seattle and I know we will do that in Toronto."
Mulrooney is out indefinitely, but Kinnear said he thought his veteran would be back by September. Davis, on the other hand, should be OK for Houston's U.S. Open Cup semifinal next week in Seattle.
But the timing couldn't be worse for a team that is still without Eddie Robinson (knee surgery), Cam Weaver (groin strain), Brian Ching (CONCACAF Gold Cup/USA), Stuart Holden (CONCACAF Gold Cup/USA) and Andrew Hainault (CONCACAF Gold Cup/Canada).
Wade Barrett, however, did travel with the team and should get some minutes against the Reds at BMO Field.
Defender Craig Waibel said it will be hard to win in Toronto regardless of who's playing. The Orange, he said, better be ready to play with the same intensity it brought against a Sounders FC team that tied last week's game on a controversial goal by Fredy Montero.
Toronto played poorly in a 3-0 loss at Houston on May 30. That, Waibel said, should not be a factor when the two teams square off north of the border later this afternoon.
"Toronto is a different team at home regardless," said Waibel. "It doesn't matter if they had come (to Houston) and played well last time. They would just play better still at home.
"Regardless of what they do on the road, they are a really good team at home and their home crowd is definitely a home field advantage. It gives them a renewed energy and confidence. They are a good team on turf and they understand it well."
The Dynamo are still two matches away from their return to Robertson Stadium on July 25 against New England. The loss to Seattle stopped a streak of three consecutive wins for the Dynamo, who are one win away from its first trip to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup finals.
Despite the setback at Qwest Field last week, Kinnear said his team is still playing well and will have to keep that up to make the most of a very difficult travel situation.
"I don't think we have gone off track really," said Kinnear. "I think we have done OK. We are still top of the league, so I know we are proud of that.
"I always go back to this; there are no easy weeks. I know what our situation is here, we're missing some guys, but that doesn't mean that teams are going to stop playing us."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
More News
More News
Video
Video
