Justin Haak has revealed he is looking at the upcoming fixtures as an opportunity to earn more first-team minutes.
The former academy player has earned three starts so far this season in MLS including the last two games against New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake.
Stepping into the defensive line in the absence of Thiago Martins and Maxime Chanot, the Brooklyn native performed well with composed passing and a good reading of the play.
Now looking to continue that run of action this weekend, Haak acknowledges that absences elsewhere have afforded him an opportunity in the starting XI that he is keen to take.
"This is an opportunity for me these past two games and I'm just looking to continue building on that," he said.
"I've always tried to give whatever I can to the team and right now it's at center back. I'm just going to try to do my best and help the team out from there.
"We [the coach and I] haven't really spoken about a bigger role yet because James Sands is still going to be here for this next game against Columbus so that's where all our focus is right now.
"After that, I think he won't be here for a month or so. We'll go from there after this weekend."
Elsewhere, the 21-year-old, took time to discuss the relationship the team has with its supporters.
NYCFC return to Yankee Stadium after a testing road trip to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake last time out, and Haak is now looking forward to being back in the Bronx as he strives to deliver a win.
"I definitely think it's no secret that Yankee Stadium is very good for us," he said.
"It has been very kind to us. We've always had a very good home record, obviously.
"I think we've not been so good the three games, but the fans are always behind us. It always pushes us to do better.
"I think that's why you see in the past years, we've been very successful there."
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