With eye toward final, Curtin turns to the bench vs. SKC

CHESTER » In the busiest stretch of the Philadelphia Union’s season, Jim Curtin has talked plenty about his team’s room for error.

It seemed to have evaporated when the team lost 4-1 at home last Saturday to Montreal. It reappeared when the team gutted out a 1-0 win at Seattle, despite being down to 10 men in the house of the team carrying the longest winning streak in MLS history.

So it is Sunday that the Union entertain Western Conference leader Sporting Kansas City (1 p.m., ESPN) with Curtin weighing his options. With a reasonable finish over its last five MLS games, the team will qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs. But it’s also 90 minutes from a trophy via Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final in Houston.

That’s why Curtin will field a fresh squad Sunday at Talen Energy Stadium, one he’s confident can still battle for a result while keeping his first-choice lineup sharp for Houston.

“That is the no. 1 focus of the team right now, taking points in that game, trying to get some separation above that red line that everybody starts to look to right now, and that will be priority No. 1,” Curtin said Friday. “We will select a team that will be fresh, will be ready to press at home.”

There’s a lot of sort through in terms of who will play and who won’t for the Union (13-12-4, 43 points). Most of those who started in Seattle will be exempted, and at most positions, there’s a crowd of reserves stating their case weekly in training for time.

It’s a no-brainer at some positions. Derrick Jones, who logged 90 intense minutes in Seattle, will likely reprise that role in midfield next to Warren Creavalle. The wing combination of Fabian Herbers, David Accam and Marcus Epps has those two roles covered, with Jay Simpson up top.

Where it gets interesting is at outside back and the No. 10 spot. For the latter, both Borek Dockal (ankle) and Ilsinho (quad) trained fully Friday and could platoon for stretches to bolster the side in chasing points against Kansas City. Ilsinho survived just 10 minutes in his last appearance at Orlando City Sept. 1; Curtin will want some guarantee of his fitness before risking a sub on him in an Open Cup final that could go 120 minutes.

At outside back, Keegan Rosenberry is likely to fall into the rest camp, and Ray Gaddis rolled an ankle that forced him to leave the Seattle game early. With Houston the priority for Gaddis’s fitness, he’s unlikely to be risked at less than full health. That leaves Fabinho and (with Matt Real still out with a knee issue) Olivier Mbaizo, who could make his MLS debut.

Jack Elliott is suspended after his red card in Seattle, which Curtin admitted altered his plans for central defense. That could mean Auston Trusty continues his streak of minutes played in MLS this season, with Mark McKenzie almost certain to play.

With the Union sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, eight points ahead of D.C. United, they don’t have the cushion to automatically forsake the three points, even against Western Conference leading SKC (15-7-6, 51 points). But for the players on the field, Curtin is hoping that what they lack in skill will be made up for in freshness and hunger to prove that they belong on the field more often.

“I look around, and all of them, with the exception of maybe one, has played big minutes for us this year, has hundreds of games under their belts,” Curtin said of his options. “So it’s not a case where we’re just throwing guys out there with no experience. It’s guys that we’re confident in and can get a result. We do know there’s an Open Cup final and we want the group to be fully ready for the final.”