TFC looks to get back on track

After a poor midweek showing against rival Montreal, Toronto FC looks to get its recordbreaking season back on track with a win Saturday in New England.

The Revolution (10-14-5), located some 27 points below Toronto in the Major League Soccer standings, are hoping for their own bounce back after firing coach Jay Heaps on Tuesday.

Barring miraculous recoveries, Toronto (18-4-8) will be without star strikers Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore for the third game in a row. Both are nursing minor injuries — quad for Giovinco and hamstring for Altidore — and the club is not taking any risks with an 11-point lead atop the league as the regular season winds down.

The artificial turf at Gillette Stadium is another reason for keeping the strike duo at home.

Playmaker Victor Vazquez could see action after recovering from a midweek illness that kept him on the bench for the 5-3 loss to Montreal that snapped a sixgame win streak, 11-game undefeated run and Toronto’s season-long home undefeated record.

It was Toronto’s first defeat since a 3-1 loss July 1 at FC Dallas.

“We’ve been cruising along a little bit,” said veteran defender Drew Moor. “We have to remember that the playoffs are right around the corner and at this point of the season they might as well have started, because for many teams they have.

“It’s win or go home and New England might be in that situation. We have to make sure we match that intensity and match it from the start of the match.”

Toronto failed to do that against Montreal, giving up two goals in the first 24 minutes.

A TFC win, coupled with a New York City FC tie or loss against the Houston Dynamo, will assure Greg Vanney’s team of the Supporters’ Shield as the team with the best regular-season record.

The Revolution fired Heaps in the wake of 3-1 and 7-0 losses at Sporting Kansas City and Atlanta United, respectively.

Assistant coach Tom Soehn, a longtime soccer man who is a former director of soccer operations and coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps, will be at the New England helm for the remainder of the season. Soehn’s playing career included stints with the Ottawa Intrepid (1989) and Hamilton Steelers (1990) in the Canadian Soccer League.

New England does not travel well — 10-2-2 at home and 0-12-3 on the road. The Revs have scored 34 goals at home (2.43 a game) as opposed to just 11 away (0.73). New England has lost seven straight on the road, the second-longest away slide in club history.

Defence has also been an issue with New England ranking 20th in goals against, giving up 1.76 goals a game.

The teams split two earlier meetings this season.