A good 20 minutes after Fury FC practice ended Thursday, Ramon Soria remained on the pitch, doing sit-ups near the touchline in the midst of a downpour.

Every player has his own ritual when a training session ends, which head coach Marc Dos Santos signals by telling the squad to do "whatever you need."

Some head inside immediately for treatment, others kick a ball around or practice a particular aspect of the game they want to work on.

Soria is usually one of the last off the pitch after practice getting in a last bit of workout, something he said has been typical of his training style going back to his formative years in his native Spain.

His work ethic makes it hardly surprising that he has begun to get more playing time in the fall season after spending most of the spring campaign as a substitute.

Soria featured in the friendly against Rangers FC and impressed Dos Santos enough to put him in the starting 11 last weekend in Carolina. While the 3-0 loss was ugly for Ottawa, the progression of Soria's game is obvious. The switch to a 4-4-2 formation allowed Soria to come in at left back while Maykon moved onto the left wing of the midfield diamond.

Soria said he hasn't done anything new and figured he'd get the opportunity if he worked for it.

"I've been working like I always and I'm trying to improve at each training session," Soria said in French following Thursday's session. "Against Glasgow, I think I took advantage of the opportunity and so I played last Saturdy.

"That's how you improve, you have to work and when you do things will go well."

While Dos Santos wasn't happy with the way the new formation worked and will revert to the usual 4-3-3 this weekend against Minnesota, don't be surprised if Soria starts again.

"He's a very intelligent player," Dos Santos said of Soria. "He's quick, he's good on the ball."

Soria's emergence as a solid presence on the left -- though he is a natural centre back -- will also provide some competition for Maykon.

"I think sometimes Maykon has been struggling in some situations of one (on) one when he gets a lot of speed on his side," Dos Santos said. "He knows that and he wants to get better there. I think (Maykon) could bring a lot offensively, especially with the quality of his set plays and possession.

"At the end of the day, it's good that Ramon competes with Maykon," said the coach. "We can't have people comfortable here, nobody's entitled to nothing so they have to (earn) their spot."

DOS SANTOS TAKES RESPONSIBILITY

While the overall game was dreadful from a Fury perspective in Carolina, Dos Santos isn't putting the loss on his players but instead blames himself for the sudden shift to a new formation.

"We tried, and as a coach you try (new) things, but I wasn't happy," he said of the change in game plan which he said isn't suited to the style of play of his squad.

"That's why I took responsibility and I didn't put Carolina's result on the players, that's my problem," said the always frank Dos Santos.

But different formation or not, the key Saturday will be snapping the Fury's lengthy goal drought, which stretches back to the final game of the spring season. Nicki Paterson, who came on in a game that was already 3-0, said the goals will come.

"It's the hardest thing in the world to do to score goals," said the midfielder, who is just coming back from a knee injury. "I would be worried if we weren't creating chances at all but we've been getting two, three golden chances a game.

"Like any other positions, forwards is mostly (about) confidence and I trust in Vini (Dantas) and Tommy (Heinemann) and guys like myself and Sini (Ubiparipovic) and Carl (Haworth) that we can get goals when the opportunities come."

PEISER TO START?

After playing 30 minutes of the friendly against Rangers FC, recent goalkeeper signing Romuald Peiser appears set to make his competitive debut with his new club.

Peiser, who is from France and played in the Portuguese Premier League before coming to Ottawa, has trained with the club for a couple weeks.

While Dos Santos wouldn't guarantee Thursday that Peiser would be in goal when Ottawa visits Minnesota United FC Saturday, he said that would likely be the case.

"There's a big chance he's going to play," Dos Santos said.

Assuming Peiser does start, it will be the first competitive match in which keeper Devala Gorrick has not played every minute.

After Peiser was signed, Gorrick said he would take the move as an opportunity to improve his own game and fight for playing time.

SIDELINES

Tony Donatelli and Omar Jarun are both nursing minior injuries and may not play in Minnesota ... Not sure how nobody realized the player domes on the pitch were going to be a big obstruction for some fans. As it is now, the first four rows of the section behind each bench won't see much of everything ... If Gorrick doesn't play Saturday, defender Mason Trafford will be the only remaining Fury player to play every minute of every match going back to the spring season ... No surprise as much of Thursday's session was spent on finishing drills and improving how they defend on quick counter attacks. Both were big factors in the loss in Carolina.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @chrishofley