It's time for Futbol Club Cincinnati to go.

"Go" as in go get results, stack them up, and qualify for the United Soccer League playoffs.

FC Cincinnati returned Monday to practice on the University of Cincinnati campus following a four-day break to allow its players and technical staff a breather from an emotionally draining mid-August stretch.

Upon returning, the club began preparations for its stretch run of just seven remaining USL games (just two of which are at Nippert Stadium) to close out the regular season.

FC Cincinnati's players are rested and, by virtue of the Aug. 15 loss to Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls, there is no Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to complicate league play.

There's still plenty to play for as Cincinnati is within four points of the fourth-place position in the conference that would allow the team to host a home playoff game, although the team needs a lot to go its way over the next six weeks in order to claim the fourth spot.

FC Cincinnati has a lot of work to do – they could obviously also use some help along the way, too – before they can even think about locking down a playoff berth, though.

There's a log jam of teams vying for space in the USL Eastern Conference playoff picture, and they're densely packed. It's unlikely they'll separate themselves significantly over the remainder of the regular season, FC Cincinnati players and coaches agree.

Here's an overview of FC Cincinnati's current situation and the clubs standing between it and the USL playoffs.

• Eight teams from both the USL's Eastern and Western conferences will make the playoffs (top four seeds have home field advantage).

• FC Cincinnati (9-9-7, 34 points) is now in seventh place in the East.

• Part of the reason FC Cincinnati is looking up from seventh-place is that the club has just two combined wins against the seven other teams occupying playoff spots in the East (No. 1 Louisville and No. 8 Bethlehem).

• FC Cincinnati's combined record against current Eastern Conference playoff teams is 2-8-5 (34 combined dropped points in the standings).

There's good news, though.

• FC Cincinnati won't see much of the teams currently in the Eastern Conference playoff positions, although it will see several teams very much in the fight for the playoffs.

• In 2017, Cincinnati has a 6-1-1 record against its seven remaining opponents.

• Cincinnati's remaining opponents have a combined record of 48-78-51. Cincinnati will need to deliver results, but the stretch run includes matches against teams FC Cincinnati's mostly had success with this year.

Here's a breakdown of FC Cincinnati's remaining schedule:

• Saturday vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (4 p.m.; Orange Out): Pittsburgh is tied for ninth place in the East and has a record of 8-8-9. FC Cincinnati won the teams' only meeting this season, 1-0. All-time, FC Cincinnati leads the Pittsburgh series 3-0-1.

• Sept. 12 @ Harrisburg City Islanders (6:30 p.m.): Harrisburg is alone in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 6-13-6. FC Cincinnati won the teams' rain-delayed July 22 match, 3-0. Cincinnati owns a 2-0-1 all-time record against Harrisburg.

• Sept. 16 vs. New York Red Bulls II (7 p.m.): The defending USL Cup champions are stuck in 10th place in the Eastern Conference at 9-11-5 but are just two points back of FC Cincinnati at present. This is arguably FC Cincinnati's trickiest game of the final seven. New York has dominated FC Cincinnati in three previous meetings, including a 4-0 win in their only meeting this year.

• Sept. 23 @ St. Louis FC (8:30 p.m.): St. Louis (8-11-5, 29 points) is still in the playoff picture as it's four points back of eighth-place Bethlehem. FC Cincinnati has dominated this series, beating St. Louis in all four previous meetings, including a combined 6-0 scoreline over two games this year.

• Sept. 29 @ Charlotte Independence (7 p.m.): This game sticks out from the others on this list. It's the only one FC Cincinnati will play against a team currently holding down a playoff spot, and that spot happens to be a tie with Louisville City FC for first place (12-5-8, 44 points). FC Cincinnati won its first-ever game against Charlotte back in April 2016 but hasn't won since. The teams have split their all-time series (1-1-2).

• Oct. 8 @ Ottawa Fury FC (2 p.m.): At 7-9-8, Ottawa has a long road to climb back into the playoffs, although it has one game in-hand over much of the rest of the East. FC Cincinnati won last Wednesday the teams' first-ever meeting.

More:FC Cincinnati exhales with 3-1 win vs. Ottawa

• Oct. 14 @ Toronto FC II (7:30 p.m.): Motivation could be waning for Toronto by the time this match arrives. The club is 5-14-6 overall and bottom of the East. They also have USL's second-worst goal differential (minus-22). If FC Cincinnati needs a result on the last day of the season, this is the team you'd want to be playing. Cincinnati is 3-0-0 all-time against Toronto, although the matches always seem to be tightly contested.

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