Toronto FC president Bill Manning says there is some uneasiness about the defending MLS Cup champion's recent run of poor results, but nobody is too worried just yet.

"I think it’s fair to say that we do have some concern I don’t think we have outright panic," Manning told TSN Radio 1050 Toronto's Michael Landsberg and Carlo Colaiacovo on Landsberg in the Morning on Thursay. "I do think we have some concern we’re losing points in the standings. There’s still a lot of games left, but if we continue to lose points at home and give away leads, you’re gonna risk [not] being in a playoff spot."

Since the Reds' loss on penalties to Chivas on April 25, the club is 2-3-2 in league play and is coming off of a dispiriting 3-3 draw with Columbus Crew last weekend in which TFC blew a 3-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Winners of the treble last season (along with the MLS Cup, the team captured the Supporters' Shield and the Canadian Championship), Manning says the poor run to start the season has caused the club to recalibrate expectations.

"I think right now where we’ve reset, is let’s just get above the playoff line," Manning said. "We’re eight or nine points out of what would be sixth place. We have a game in hand. And that’s just all we’re focusing on. As a team and an organization that have set our expectations very high, we’ve just kinda reset the bar and said, ‘Okay. We had an emotional breakdown, a physical breakdown with a number of injuries we’ve had. Let’s reset it now.’"

TFC has been hit with a rash of injuries this season, leaving head coach Greg Vanney rarely with a full complement at his disposal. Sebastian Giovinco and Victor Vazquez have both missed time, while Jozy Altidore (foot), Drew Moor (quad), Ager Aketxe (hip flexor), Chris Mavinga (hamstring) and Ashtone Morgan (calf) are among those who remain on the shelf.

Manning is pleased that reenforcements are expected to return in time for Friday night's contest with the Philadelphia Union and believes the upcoming World Cup break will aid in the team's recovery effort.

"We’re happy we have a few guys back this weekend, Justin Morrow is back, Nico Hasler will be back, Eriq Zavaleta," Manning said. "So we feel things will start to round into form. These next two games are critical because it’s before the World Cup break. We obviously want to get a result in Philadelphia and then home against DC United next Wednesday. And then we get a break for the World Cup and hopefully, we can heal some bodies and then come back strong for the last 20 games of the season."

Because of the lack of healthy bodies, Vanney has been forced to employ captain Michael Bradley in the centre of defence, an assignment he has struggled with at times, including giving away the penalty that led to the Crew's tying goal last weekend. Manning praised the way that Bradley has handled the task.

"When you’re naturally trained to be an aggressive midfielder who breaks up plays and is very good with the ball and keeps possession, moving back to centre-back, it’s easy to do it for one or two games. He’s been called to do it for five or six games now," Manning said. "It makes it very difficult because, examples I would give, as a defensive midfielder, you can take the chance to maybe go for a 50-50 ball because you know you have guys behind you. And sometimes Michael has done that as a centre-back, which has cost us a little bit, but that’s his natural instinct as one of the top defensive midfielders in the league…we’ve asked a lot of him and clearly, I think he’s performed admirably."

Manning also updated the status of where the club stands in terms of an extension for Giovinco, whose deal expires at the end of the 2019 season.

“We would love to see Sebastian retire here," Manning said, "and like we’re going to do with all of players coming out of contracts, the offseason before we go into the last year [of the deal], we’ll begin talks."

You can catch Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC LIVE across the TSN Network on Friday night at 8pm et/5pm pt