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Revs hope for better luck at home against Portland

Mar 23, 2012 - 7:25 PM Foxborough, MA (Sports Network) - The New England Revolution return home to welcome the Portland Timbers to Gillette Stadium with the Revs still searching for their first point.

Jay Heaps has had a rough start to his first season in charge of New England as the club has lost its first two games of the new campaign by a combined score of 4-0.

Both defeats came away from home and the latest setback was a 3-0 loss at Sporting Kansas City that the club is eager to forget.

"We will look at the tape and hopefully go forward," Heaps said. "We will leave it all here and move on. "It's just one of those games you have to move on from."

Revolution defender Stephen McCarthy was sent off after only 14 minutes for a foul on C.J. Sapong and Sporting took over from there to coast home with the easy win.

New England defender Clyde Simms obviously isn't happy with how his team has started the campaign, but he was quick to point out following the loss that there is still plenty of time to turn things around.

"We have to leave this game here. We were unfortunate to get a red card so early on against a very good team at their home," said Simms. "We will use this game as fitness really. The younger guys just need to know that it's a very long season. When I played for D.C. United we went 0-3 and then went on to win the Supporter's Shield. There's a lot of season left to play. We have to regroup but we are headed home now."

The Revs are one of six teams in the Eastern Conference that has yet to record a point this season, while Portland is looking to build on a good start that has seen the club collect four points from two games.

A 3-1 home win over the Philadelphia Union to open the season was followed by a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas last weekend, leaving head coach John Spencer with plenty to be happy about.

"It has been a good start to the season. We played two quality teams and if our guys believe in themselves as much as me and my coaches do, we'll make it to the playoffs," Spencer said.

Portland will play three of its next four games at home after Saturday's contest, and Timbers midfielder Eric Alexander credits the club's increase in belief as a big reason for the positive start.

"The focus is a little higher [than last year] as well as our belief in each other," he said. "We have a talented group of guys who can get it done on the road. There are still better games to come."