The New England Revolution are happy to finally be home, and to debut a player they hope will provide plenty of offense.
The Revolution expect Serbian midfielder Marko Perovic to make his MLS debut Saturday night in their home opener against Toronto FC.
New England (1-1-0) took preseason trips to Florida and North Carolina and began the season with road games at Los Angeles and D.C. The travel has taken its toll and the Revolution are ready to play at Gillette Stadium.
"It's great to be home," midfielder Chris Tierney told the Revolution's official Web site. "We finally get to prepare for a game on our usual training field. We get to sleep in our own beds before the game - which is huge - and cut out the travel."
It will also be huge to add Perovic, who starred for eight years in his native country with Red Star Belgrade before playing last year with Swiss powerhouse FC Basel. Perovic will be called upon to provide some attacking punch with the Revolution missing injured forwards Taylor Twellman and Edgaras Jankauskas.
"He's just quality going forward," coach Steve Nicol said about Perovic. "He likes going at people, he's good on the ball and he sees the game well."
Nicol probably has visions of Perovic and Kenny Mansally forming a strong attacking partnership. Mansally could get the start after scoring both goals as a substitute in last week's 2-0 victory over D.C. to earn MLS player of the week honors.
"I don't know when I'm going to start, so any time I get just a chance, any opportunity I get, I have to take it," Mansally said.
New England could also see the season debut of veteran midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who missed the first two games with a hip injury.
The Revolution are 3-1-3 all-time against Toronto, going 3-0-1 at home. Last season, Toronto posted a 3-1 home victory and earned its first-ever point at Gillette Stadium with a 1-1 draw.
Toronto (0-1-0) has not played since a season-opening 2-0 loss at Columbus on March 27. The time off has not been uneventful with Wednesday's surprising retirement by captain Jim Brennan, who has taken an administrative job with the club.
Brennan denied rumors of a rift with coach Preki Radosavljevic, although the timing of the move is curious. Preki, who named midfielder Dwayne De Rosario as the new captain, already has criticized the coverage of the team by Toronto media as too negative.
"This is not going to be a quick fix," Preki said. "It's going to take us some time to get where we want to be. This week off has helped. The group is getting familiar with each other."
De Rosario scored in both matches against New England last year.
