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East strugglers square off as TFC visits Fire

Sep 13, 2014 - 7:06 PM Bridgeview, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Fire and Toronto FC will both be desperate for three points on Saturday when the two sides tangle at Toyota Park.

Both clubs are currently outside the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference, and with both teams having eight games to play, a final push will be necessary to gain a postseason berth.

A win for either side on Saturday would vault them right into the playoff mix, while a defeat would be another blow in a season that is quickly heading toward the end.

Chicago is in a worse position entering Saturday's match with the team sitting second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference and seven points out of a playoff spot following a 2-1 defeat to New England last time out.

The Fire took the lead in the 28th minute through Sanna Nyassi, but allowed the Revs to score two unanswered goals to claim the win.

Chicago was playing without forwards Mike Magee and Robert Earnshaw, and the team will miss Magee the rest of the season after the former Galaxy man had season-ending hip surgery.

However, head coach Frank Yallop felt as though the injury hampered Magee's production this season, and that the time was right for him to go under the knife.

"It's unfortunate that Mike will be out for an extended period, but he's been struggling this season with the injuries," said Yallop. "After consulting with our medical staff, we decided that this was the best time for Mike to have the procedure."

To help combat the loss of Magee, Chicago signed former Liverpool and Atletico Madrid forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who along with Earnshaw, gives Yallop a pair of forwards with European pedigree.

Toronto is just three points out of the last playoff berth in the East, but the team must find a way to turn around a poor run of form that has seen the club capture just one point from the last five games, including three successive losses.

The team is coming off a 2-0 defeat to fellow playoff contender Philadelphia, and new head coach Greg Vanney is still trying to figure out the identity of his side.

"We have more, and we have to be better," Vanney said after the defeat. "It wasn't good enough. We have eight matches left and a full week of training and I think it's important that we take a good, hard look and figure out what is the identity of this team."

Another thing Vanney must do is figure out how to get some goals from his team, which has failed to score in the last 281 minutes of play, spanning three games.