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Now, with no domestic Voyageurs Cup games to worry about, the Caps play just one midweek game — Aug. 28 in Montreal — the rest of the way.

“We analyzed before the Gold Cup, we had a lot of games Saturday, Saturday, Saturday. We were able to prepare the team on the field tactically in training,” said Dos Santos. “Now, at the moment, we’re not. We’re not able to train, we’re just able to recover and play.”

The team flew Thursday to St. Paul, just hours after falling to Calgary, for Saturday’s road game with Minnesota United FC. After that, they have a full week before each of their following four games, with three on the road.

Of the 28 players on the roster, just 11 of them have had real MLS experience, thus understanding the toll the travel can take on the body. Of those players with at least 12 starts, five had never played an MLS minute before this season.

Photo by Liam Richards / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

As the season progressed, Dos Santos has said the profile of what he wants in a player has changed to include those from leagues that play a condensed schedule and have a lot of travel, and have durable, dense frames.

He hit on players like Erik Godoy — who’s started all 23 games and has gone the full 90 in each — and Ali Adnan, who’s started all 18 games he was available for, and was subbed off just once as an injury precaution in May.

But midfielder Inbeom Hwang has noticeably lagged from his bright start to the season, the cumulative effects of MLS play and no break from his previous year with Daejon Citizen starting to add up. Lucas Venuto, Jon Erice and Lass Bangoura have all felt the wear and tear as well.