The list of injuries has not dampened the Crew's ability to come back from a knockdown.
In each of the last the four matches, Columbus has responded to a conceded goal with either a second-half equalizer or a game-winner as the Club enters Saturday's match against FC Cincinnati on a season-high four-match unbeaten streak.
With that, the results have laid the groundwork for high expectations come Saturday.
"Winning on the road doesn’t affect you at home. It does give you confidence," said head coach Caleb Porter. "When you have four results in a row that gives you confidence. We will keep building and the feeling is good within the group."
During the recent four-match stretch, five of the Crew's eight points earned have come on the road. Now, following a two-week road trip, the Club returns to MAPFRE Stadium for the first time since a 2-1 win over Montreal on July 20 - a match which featured a second-half game-winner from David Accam.
“I think it is the group mindset and how we have a strong mentality and strong plan of what we have to do,” said midfielder Artur. “Even after we go down, we keep going in the game. We are doing a good job of that.”
Last week, 'Confidence' was the keyword.
Now, it's 'Growth'.
“I think it shows that we have grown," said midfielder David Guzmanon the Club's ability to turn the table and pull out close results over the past four weeks.
In all, the Crew has been involved in 12 one-goal regular-season matches.
"In the first half [of matches] we are getting a lot of chances and maybe we are not putting them all away," said Guzman, "but in the second half we are, which shows that we are continuing to work and finalizing and executing.”
Of course, first-half goals would be preferred.
“We’d like to get them in the first half,” Alex Crognaleput succinctly.
Though the Homegrown centerback continued: “You know it shows our character when you go down a goal and you’re able to get one back, but I think we want to break that trend and start getting on the front foot and we score early and we can defend the goal.”
Beyond scoring earlier, Crew SC is also focusing on consistency.
“I think that we have to get the needle a little more consistent in the game,” Artur note. “We need to play well the whole game. Some games, we play well the first half, other games we play well in the second half. Sometimes we play bad for 20 minutes. I think it important that we keep consistency and play well the whole game. “
Kickoff on Saturday is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET and supporters can watch the match on FOX Sports Ohio, stream on FOX Sports GO, or listen on 97.1 FM The Fan or www.ColumbusCrewSC.com (English & Spanish).
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