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Pozuelo did join TFC after taking part in an entire Belgian First Division A regular season and had played in 10 games in a row for TFC, so there has to be some fatigue setting in.

“He’ll never admit (that he’s tired) because players love to play and they want to play all the time and they want to help their teams. But I do think — and I talked to him about it — this is good week for him to be able to kind of catch his breath a little bit,” Vanney said.

“He came (to Toronto), he came fast, obviously had an incredible start, which then ramps up the attention and everything else on his arrival. And no matter who it is, everybody goes through a stretch where you have to adapt to the league. You start to learn referring, you start to learn the physicality (of the new league), you still have to get to know your teammates. And you realize the travel in this league is tough and there’s different facets that everybody goes through.

“And at the same time, he’s trying to settle in at home and then his family arrives … so I think this is a good time (for a break),” the coach continued. “He’s got a good sample size of what the league is about and now we hopefully help him get his legs back under him again (and) give him a chance to catch his breath.

“And then we get a little break for the Gold Cup (in June) which I think will really serve him well as we look at the summer grind and the last part of the season.”

The Reds just finished a stretch of five games in 15 days and are on a four-game winless streak, with three losses and a draw, including a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Real Salt Lake in Utah. Toronto managed to score just one goal in that time frame, giving up seven.