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Timbers return home to tussle with Revs

Jun 5, 2015 - 8:23 PM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Timbers will be anxious to return home to Providence Park on Saturday to take on the New England Revolution after Caleb Porter's team spent much of the month of May on the road.

Portland wrapped up a stretch of four road games in five matches last weekend with a last-gasp 2-1 win at the Colorado Rapids, and the club will now get the chance to enjoy playing four of its next five fixtures on home soil.

The Timbers took a 1-0 lead into the 90th minute against the Rapids before Sam Cronin equalized for the home side. However, Jack Jewsbury struck deep into stoppage time to hand the Timbers all three points, which Porter felt his side certainly deserved.

"I think this has been one of the toughest stretches to start the year that any team has had," said Porter, referring to his team's number of away contests so far this season. "We've had six of eight on the road and we've gotten 13 points out of those eight games, and 10 [points] out of the last six [games]. So these guys have fought and clawed under some pressure on the road, things aren't going our way, we're behind it a bit, and I thought that getting this result was a reward for how hard these guys have worked and how hard they fought. Real proud of them, and ultimately, I'm glad they got rewarded."

The win over the Rapids marked the first time this year that the Timbers have been able to put together back-to-back wins, and the club will hoping to push on and secure a few more victories in the coming weeks with many of those games at home.

New England, meanwhile, will be attempting to snap a five-game winless run that includes four draws during that stretch.

Head coach Jay Heaps has seen his team score the first goal in each of those five games, and each time it has come in the first half to give the Revs an early advantage.

However, the boss feels that his team must find a "killer instinct" to build on those leads and that wins will follow with a bit more urgency, which was echoed by goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

"We've had opportunities to increase our leads and have been a bit unlucky, and also haven't been ruthless enough," said Shuttleworth. "We need to capitalize on those opportunities and try to add to our lead when we can.

"When we score a goal, it's trying to get another goal and trying to get another goal, and not being content sitting in. We've got to continue to push forward and stay hungry."

In the team's last outing, a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Teal Bunbury scored inside five minutes to give New England the lead, only for the Galaxy to respond with two goals in the span of nine minutes before the half- hour mark.

Diego Fagundez scored a fantastic goal shortly before halftime to level the match, but the Revs must find a way to build on their good starts if they want them to translate into three points.