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New York, Dallas kick off MLS playoffs

Oct 25, 2011 - 10:23 PM Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - Having narrowly secured a playoff berth in its final regular season match, Red Bull New York heads to Pizza Hut Park for its wild-card match against FC Dallas on Wednesday, and coach Hans Backe is looking to his veterans to lead the club to a victory.

Red Bulls striker and Designated Player Thierry Henry missed out on the team's 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on Thursday after picking up a red card in New York's preceding match, a 2-0 loss at Sporting Kansas City .

But now the French striker is available for the club's biggest match of the season, and with Luke Rodgers out after sustaining a knee injury against the Union, it could not come at a more crucial time.

"We know that a player like Thierry, when he can sniff playoffs, they will get more and more mentally into the game," Backe said to The Star Ledger. "These guys with that kind of experience, the playoffs is the key thing. They love to play games that mean something. And I'm quite sure we will see Thierry and Rafa [Marquez] lift their games."

Against Philadelphia, Dane Richards was deployed as a striker to partner Rodgers, while Dax McCarty filled the vacant position on the right flank.

With McCarty's success out wide, Backe hinted that he may use Richards up front again to partner Henry in Rodgers' absence.

"He has definitely handled that very well," Backe told MLSsoccer.com of McCarty's switch to the right side. "His timing with his runs, when to tuck in and things like that has been very, very well-timed, and also I would say technically he's looked very, very composed. So, I think he's a guy who's stepped up in the last games.

"And [with] his work rate, he can run all day long, being a wide player, picking up attacking fullbacks against him. I'm quite pleased with him the last two, three games."

FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman is well aware of the threat New York poses to his club's playoff aspirations, and believes that the Red Bulls have played formidably of late.

"They have some very, very talented players that can come at you at any time," Hyndman said of New York. "They have good quality service from the flanks, they're a possession-oriented team. And as of late they're becoming a more aggressive, grinding, hard-working, counterattacking type of team, which I think is what got them into the playoffs."

Brek Shea could prove to be the difference-maker for FC Dallas.

Last year, New York crashed out of the postseason after a 3-1 home loss to the San Jose Earthquakes, a match in which San Jose's wingers terrorized the Red Bulls defense.

Despite a busy year with several call-ups to the national team, Shea was rested in final regular season match of the season, a 4-2 loss at San Jose. But Hyndman believes the Dallas talisman is in a good state ahead of the match.

"It has been an extremely busy year for Brek," Hyndman said in a conference call with media members on Tuesday. "We kept him out of the San Jose game. But he can't wait for [Wednesday's match]. He's better today than he was for the last two months mentally."

New York holds the edge over FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park this season, as the Red Bulls earned a 1-0 win on Sept. 17 behind a goal from Rodgers.

But with New York missing Henry, Marquez, and Jan Gunnar Solli for that match, and FC Dallas without Shea and Marvin Chavez, Wednesday's clash will have a much different feel.