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“This last game (a 4-3 victory on Friday night over Minnesota United), Jozy wasn’t one of the scorers and before Jozy was healthy we were still scoring goals, so I think we have to continue to play for team goals,” said the coach. “I think that’s important. Even over this last stretch some of our goals have been highlight-reel goals. (But) you can’t survive a season on highlight-reel goals. You’ve got to score team goals and have good team actions … and get quality goals. We were doing that early in the season and I think we just need to continue to keep playing for those moments. And when the world-class goals come that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, we’ll take those, too.”

Of course, a great part of TFC’s success offensively has to do with the exploits of Spanish midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo, who has four goals and five assists in his first four MLS games. With Pozuelo creating chances in the midfield, the Reds are confident scoring won’t be a problem.

“Offence has never been a big problem for us for a long time,” said midfielder Jonathan Osorio. “As you saw in the last game, Jordan Hamilton came in and scored two goals. We have guys that are ready to contribute. It’s a big loss for us, Jozy’s an important player. Obviously we want him on the field. But we’re confident that the next man up can fill in.”

Scarborough native Hamilton came into Friday night’s match late and scored two goals within two minutes to lift the Reds to victory. Pozuelo also picked up a brace and also had an assist and was named the MLS Player of the Week. Vanney wouldn’t play his hand yet, but it’s likely that the 23-year-old Hamilton will be in the starting XI for Saturday’s match. But the coach has a number of options at forward to replace Altidore – Hamilton, Ayo Akinola and Terrence Boyd.