First halves have not been especially kind to Real Salt Lake this season, with the team having allowed the first goal of the game before halftime three times in four matches. Coach Jason Kreis even said his players "are not getting it," meaning that they're not always recognizing opposing strategies quickly enough.

"I was talking about taking what the game gives us," Kreis said.

But midfielder Will Johnson said the team isn't obsessing over the difficult trend, heading into its home game against New England at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, when it will take aim at its third straight home win.

"We just basically have to get back to what we were doing toward the end of last year," he said, including maintaining possession. "It doesn't really have anything to do with coming out of the gate slow. It's a long season and I'm sure we'll get it sorted out."

New arrivals

While defender Kyle Davies is expected to join the team in training for the first time on Wednesday, it's unknown when striker Fabian Espindola will clear all of the bureaucratic hurdles and rejoin the club. RSL won Davies in a special lottery last week -- it had only a 5 percent chance to land the under-20 national team captain -- and re-signed Espindola last week.

Injury update

Defender Ian Joy has suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury, Kreis said, and will be out "another several weeks." That could be tough for a team that has gone 2-6-1 without the veteran in the starting lineup since the middle of last season (although the two victories have come in the past three weeks), and 6-1-6 when he has started.

On the safe side

Defender Jamison Olave stayed home from RSL's game in New York last weekend to give his troublesome knee a break from playing on artificial turf. And though he's expected back against the Revs, he probably will have to miss occasional games in similar fashion in the future.

"We have to be careful with how much we're using him and how much we're using him on turf," Kreis said.

In place of Olave, defender David Horst endured a stunning mistake that led to New York's first goal in the second minute. But Kreis said the second-year player "played really well, apart from one mistake" and that "all in all, I think we did a decent job of limiting their opportunities."