MONTREAL — The first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final against the Vancouver Whitecaps arrives at just the right time for the Montreal Impact.

Coming off an exhilarating last gasp 3-2 win against Real Salt Lake on Saturday in MLS, the Impact find themselves within one point of first place in the Eastern Conference and enter Wednesday’s Cup fixture with confidence sky high. Moreover, with an ensuing 10-day break, coach Marco Schällibaum shouldn’t have too many qualms over starting his best possible lineup.

Wednesday programming alert: Watch the Montreal Impact v the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final on Sportsnet ONE. Live coverage begins at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT.

After a predominantly second string side lost to Toronto FC 2-0 in the first leg of the semifinals, there were doubts over whether the Impact were planning on taking this competition seriously. Yet those concerns were put to bed in the return leg, as the Impact ran roughshod over their rivals in a 6-0 win at Saputo Stadium.

Italian defender Matteo Ferrari told sportsnet.ca following the Salt Lake match that winning the Canadian title is vitally important for the Impact.

“I know that the city, the club and the players as well really holds this tournament to heart and really want to win because it would give us the possibility to play in CONCACAF (Champions League) and for the club that’s really important from an image point of view and also as an experience for the players,” Ferrari said in Italian.

“I have played in the (UEFA) Champions League and with the national team, but I haven’t played in CONCACAF, so for me it would be a new experience and I would be really happy to take part in it. Of course we still have to get by Vancouver and it won’t be easy because they are a nice team”.

With the second leg against the Whitecaps falling in between two important MLS fixtures — the first at home against Philadelphia on May 25 and the second on the road versus Kansas City the following Saturday — the Impact will want to get a positive a result this Wednesday so as to be able to rest some key players for the second game in Vancouver.

As Alessandro Nesta, Davy Arnaud, Andrea Pisanu and Daniele Paponi are still recovering from injury, the Impact will likely feature a similar lineup to the one that was able to overcome Real Salt Lake on the weekend.

Fatigue could, however, be an issue for the Impact, as the forthcoming clash with the Whitecaps will be the team’s sixth game in 18 days, and that could force Schällibaum to make a few changes.

Wingers Andres Romero and or Justin Mapp could potentially start on the bench, leaving space for fresher players such as Sanna Nyassi or Blake Smith.

Though defenders Hassoun Camara and Jeb Brovsky have played in each of Montreal’s last five games, they will likely be called upon in defence once again as the Impact will be looking to travel to Vancouver with a clean sheet in the bag.

Backup goalkeeper Evan Bush will again get the start ahead of Troy Perkins, while forward Marco Di Vaio, who has eight goals in 11 appearances in all competitions so far this season, is expected to partner Andrew Wenger in the attack.

Maxim Tissot, who played in both cup games against Toronto, is the favorite to start at left fullback ahead of Dennis Iapichino.

Wednesday’s game will only be the second meeting between the two sides since the Impact joined MLS in 2012. Vancouver won the first exchange 2-0 last year in what was the opening day of the Impact’s expansion season.