By the time Orlando City kicks off in Columbus it’ll be 14 days since the Lions last played a match. Plenty of time to prepare for their first road tilt of the season, but don’t expect the team to be rusty.
“Not at all,” Lions defender Jonathan Spector said. “We’ve had time to work on things, both with and without the ball so I don’t think that’s a concern of ours.”
The Lions have played only two matches this season, the lowest total in the MLS. The Columbus Crew are 4 games in and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with 7 points.
“They’re very creative,” head coach Jason Kreis said. “Very dynamic, very possession oriented, they create a lot of goal scoring opportunities. So it’s a massive challenge for us, but I think it comes at the right time. Because I think we’re a team that has some confidence of our own, and have established a little bit of a rhythm right now, and a little bit of confidence, and I think that we’re ready for it.”
Despite securing 6 points in two matches played the team is well aware of the parts of play they need to work on.
“We need to be better with the ball than we have been the past two games,” said Spector. “I think we showed some improvement from the New York game from the opening game, but we want to continue to improve on that.”
The goal is a simple one for Orlando City as they prepare to walk into Mapfre Stadium.
“First away game, we want to show that we can play the same way and pick up points like we have at home already,” the defender said.