by DAVE MARTINEZ

HARRISON, N.J. – Whether Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch agrees with it or not — and he doesn’t — Matt Miazga will miss up to four of five matches for New York due to his yellow card against Orlando on Friday night.

“Four game without Matt Miazga — first of all, the first yellow card Matt gets isn’t even a foul,” Marsch said after the match. “I don’t know what the referee sees on that to not only call foul but to give a yellow, I don’t see that. So it’s not a foul, and then Matt gets himself in trouble on the second one.

“Losing Matt for four games will be tough, you know, but we’ve been resilient all year

With Miazga gone, who will step up to fill his shoes on the backline?

The answer is Ronald Zubar – the man Miazga replaced in the starting XI so many months ago.

After being picked up this offseason as the heir apparent to Jamison Olave, Zubar has endured a nightmare season. Hamstring and knee issues have continuously sidelined the former Wolverhampton defender, limiting him to seven appearances and four starts.

“Zubar will become very important,” Marsch said. “Ronald’s fully healthy so it’s time for him to show everything that he’s about. It hasn’t been an easy year for him but now we need him and we’ll need him to step in and do this job and I’m very, very confident that he will. Very confident that he’s going to show his teammates and everyone what kind of player he is.”

Though he has suffered a difficult year, the Red Bull staff and players have rallied around Zubar this year. In fact, team captain Dax McCarty said his insertion may actually be a “blessing in disguise” for the club.

New York will hope the veteran French defender eases their losses as the club continues to have an eye on the Supporters’ Shield.

“I’m actually excited for him to get this run of games,” Marsch said.