For the second week in a row, Toronto FC won’t have star scorer Jermain Defoe in the lineup for another challenging game.

The club’s depth, like every other MLS team, was questioned at the start of the season and will be called on to fill the void yet again.

The difference this weekend, though, is TFC may also be without Michael Bradley, the team’s best player, which could increase the list of injured regulars to five.

“With Jermain, we have to get it right,” Nelsen said in reference to Defoe, whose original diagnosis was a “mild” hamstring pull. He missed last week’s game in Columbus.

“If we have to sacrifice next week (road game April 19 in Dallas) . . . it’s a long season and he’s probably got something more in the summer (World Cup with England). So we have to take care of him.”

Nelsen ran down the injury list at training Friday and it went like this: for Saturday’s game against a high-powered Colorado club, Defoe, Ashtone Morgan and Doniel Henry will not play. Jonathan Orsorio is doubtful while Bradley and Alvaro Rey are questionable.

Toronto takes its impressive 3-1 record into a home game Saturday against a solid Colorado club which features Jose Mari, who scored two of the nicest goals of the season so far in a win over Vancouver last weekend, and the speedy Deshorn Brown.

“They’re a tough club, they have no weaknesses, they are good front to back,” Nelsen said.

The club trained outside on grass during the warmer weather Friday.

“All the responsibility goes on me. We look at the loads of training we give them, what they did in the pre-season, the travel. If you pull them out of training (ease up on the load) you run the risk of losing something off your game. At the same time, if you don’t push them, then you don’t have (two of three wins on the road). It’s all hindsight now.”

Nelsen will make a final determination on Bradley at game time Saturday. The brilliant midfielder is nursing aches and pains.

TFC captain Steven Caldwell praised Hagglund, the club’s first choice in the SuperDraft, for his performance last weekend in Columbus, which included the added nervousness of having over a dozen family and friends on hand to witness his very first career MLS start.

“It was a good debut, but I have to keep pushing forward,” Hagglund said. “I haven’t watched the game video yet but I will before the Colorado game. But I have to keep that (success) in the past and keep coming up with good games all the time.”

According to the players and their coach, the release this week of the MLS salary figures won’t have an adverse affects on the TFC dressing room.

“It doesn’t mean much to me,” said Orr, reflecting on a $50,000 salary for teammate Bloom and the marked contrast to the $6.5 million Bradley is earning. “I have to just come out, work hard, and prove myself day in and day out. You don’t want to worry about those things and get your head bent out of shape.”

When asked if he saw the salary figures, Orr said “I did see them … you can see the difference … it’s a pretty wide gap but there’s a difference like that with almost every player (compared to the high end DP). The beauty of this league is that if you play well and prove yourself, you can get that pay too.”

Nelsen said the salary disparity “can be (a problem in the dressing room) if you have bad character.

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“If guys start looking and get jealous, that type of thing, and a lot of teams have those problems. We don’t have that problem here. This is a very good group and they want to play together and they all want to win.”

Meanwhile, Kyle Bekker and Dwayne de Rosario are expected to play Saturday after nursing injuries earlier this week. De Rosario should work back into the attack, which has seen Gilberto, Jordan Hamilton and Andrew Wiedeman carrying the load in Defoe’s absence.

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