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Playoffs within reach for Revs against Impact

Oct 10, 2014 - 9:26 PM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - The New England Revolution can book a return to the postseason on Saturday with a win over the last-place Montreal Impact at Saputo Stadium.

The Revs are in great form at the moment having won seven of their last eight games to climb to second place in the Eastern Conference, four points back of leaders D.C. United.

Montreal, meanwhile, is just about assured of finishing on the bottom of the table in the East with one win from its last six games.

New England took a big step toward reaching the playoffs for a second straight year last weekend with a gritty 2-1 win over fellow playoff contender Columbus.

Lee Nguyen continued his fantastic campaign with a goal in the 20th minute to put the Revs in front, only for the Crew to answer back through Ethan Finlay five minutes later.

Jermaine Jones scored the winning goal in the 67th, while goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth turned in a great performance with six saves to preserve the victory.

It wasn't the most eye-catching outing of the season for New England, but Shuttleworth was quick to point out how that type of win at this late stage in the season says a lot about the team.

"That's what this time of the year is all about," Shuttleworth said after the win over the Crew. "We're 30-something games in now. It's all about grinding results out like that. I think we're the type of team where if we're grinding, we can play when we're on, but if we're grinding out results like that I think teams are going to have trouble with us."

Saturday's match is the third and final meeting between the two sides this season, with each having claimed a win.

The Revs will certainly be favored to walk away with three points, and if they can, it would be a big step toward finishing in the top two in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2007.

Montreal will attempt to slow New England's momentum, but at this point, the Impact is simply playing for pride.

After losing eight straight away games, Montreal managed to earn a 0-0 draw at Chicago last time out, which will at least have the team feeling a bit more positive heading into what figures to be a tough matchup.

"It's not the style of play that we prefer, but sometimes you have to grind out results in this league," said Montreal defender Heath Pearce after the 0-0 draw with the Fire. "I thought we competed well in the second half. We scrapped it out and when you compete, you get a result."