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TFC aims to snap losing skid at FCD

Apr 17, 2015 - 9:18 PM Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Toronto FC and FC Dallas will both be in search of a win on Saturday at Toyota Stadium to turn around recent runs of poor form.

Toronto will be playing the fifth of seven successive away games on Saturday as BMO Field undergoes renovations, and the club will be eager to snap a three-game losing skid since opening the campaign with a win over Vancouver.

TFC is coming off a bye week and is hoping the extra rest will provide the side with a boost following a 3-2 defeat to the Chicago Fire two weeks ago.

Head coach Greg Vanney has seen some positive things despite the poor start, but he also knows there is plenty that must be corrected for TFC to turn around a slow start.

"We played four games and we've given up eight goals, and played two games down a man. And then played two games where we gave up a goal within two minutes, sometimes one minute, from when we've either equalized or gotten ahead," said Vanney. "We can't do that. That's not a formula for winning games or picking up results. I thought overall as a group some of our good moments were really good and some of our bad moments were really bad."

Giving away three goals to the Fire certainly falls under the really bad category, but Vanney can at least be encouraged by the play of Italian Designated Player Sebastian Giovinco, who tallied his first MLS goal while also adding an assist in the defeat.

Dallas would also like to reverse its recent fortunes with the club suffering back-to-back losses after starting the season on a four-game unbeaten streak.

FCD looked fantastic through four games, with three wins and a draw, but the club's last outing was anything but as the team suffered a surprising 4-0 defeat at home against the struggling Colorado Rapids.

The loss caused Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja to reconsider a few things, but he certainly hasn't lost confidence in his players despite the terrible result last Friday.

"Maybe we're not as good as we thought," Pareja said following the heavy defeat. "I promise we're not that bad either. I think every day about the different challenges and we have another challenge this week. We have a lot of work to do, but I'm sticking with these players and coaches and I will back them up 100 percent."

One thing that would help immensely would be improved play by the Dallas defense, which yielded seven goals in the two defeats after giving up just one in the first four games during the unbeaten streak.