Nick Cushing believes his team can secure a playoff spot come the end of the regular season as they prepare to take on FC Cincinnati this weekend.
The Boys in Blue travel to TQL Stadium for a meeting with FC Cincinnati on Saturday evening knowing they will be trying to topple the leaders of the Eastern Conference.
Cushing's side sit six points below the playoff line, but the Head Coach revealed that the group's belief about securing a playoff spot has not wavered.
"As a staff and a performance team - the focus for the team is on the next game - but for us we not only have to look at how we're going to collect three points but also how we're going to collect enough points [to make the playoffs] because the belief of getting above the line is there," he said.
"The performance [against Minnesota] only reinforced the belief, but we have to execute better in our box, we know that. We know that maybe there's been games previously - Houston away Toronto away - those games where we didn't create a lot of chances.
"Over the last four or five games we have [created chances]. You look at Charlotte, Columbus, Philly, those games, where the stats tell us that we should have more points and we should be winning football games, but we're not.
"That gives us belief and that gives us confidence that we can go out and we can be in a game. We're yet to be blown out of a game and I look at results across the league where that is happening, but we're not winning football games and we have to execute in the opposition's box better.
"The next game is the most important but of course getting back to our home and performing like we did against Minnesota and winning is 100% the goal for the team."
The game in Ohio kicks off a busy seven days for Cushing and his team that will see them play three games in a week. The next two games after Cincinnati see the team return home, with CF Montréal first up on Wednesday before Vancouver Whitecaps arrive in the city next weekend.
Cushing knows full well that a victory against Cincinnati could set his side up for a transformative seven days, with the Head Coach believing his team need a spark to ignite a run of form.
"I think we had a really positive 16 days off and then such a disappointing loss because of the new arrivals and the performance and the chances that we created," he said.
"We feel like we just need that little spark to really propel us forward because we know we can perform well, we know we can create chances and restrict the opponent's chances.
"Doing that in two really difficult places like Philadelphia and Columbus gives us confidence going away from home but I say again we have to execute those moments [in attack].
"We have to absorb the pressure and the playoff run and all of the noise around that and just focus on winning a football game. I feel if we can really move forward and take a win at Cincinnati it will give us such a platform heading into our home games to really get some momentum and form."
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