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Sandy • Jeff Cassar had his Sporting Kansas City scouting report ready to go. Real Salt Lake's head coach called his team's bitter rival a solid organization that features very good talent and a good system that presents a unique challenge for any visiting club when at Children's Mercy Park.
"And you have to be at your best to get a result," Cassar said.
Does that necessitate being at full strength?
"No," Cassar countered. "Absolutely not. In fact, I'm really excited about the team I'm going to be putting out there. It's a little bit different look."
It has to be.
Cassar and his staff aren't exactly replete with options this week when unbeaten RSL (1-0-2) take on perfect Sporting KC (3-0-0) Saturday night in Kansas City, Kan. Through red-card suspension or injuries, RSL is down eight players, including starters like Kyle Beckerman, Burrito Martinez and Jamison Olave.
To compound that, Cassar said Tuesday that midfielder Javier Morales (ribs) is doubtful. Forward Olmes Garcia (ankle sprain) is progressing and could return to training Wednesday, but there's no guarantee. Defender Chris Wingert was sporting a protective face shield after suffering a broken nose in Portland on March 19, but is expected to be available.
RSL is beat up at the moment, which presents an early-season road test for the depth of this 2016 roster considering RSL could be down as many as four key starters Saturday.
"I told those guys I have confidence in every single one of them to go there and get a result," Cassar said. "We're going there for three points. We're not going there for just one. One will be a byproduct of doing things right, but if we really come with our best, we can beat them."
With the starting lineup far from set, the likeliest scenario features Justen Glad replacing Olave on the back line while Jordan Allen could move out wide in place of Martinez, where Allen saw some time a year ago. A midfield potentially minus Beckerman and Morales is cause for concern, but the likely replacements would be Luke Mulholland and John Stertzer alongside Sunday Stephen in the club's three-man midfield.
During RSL's rare early-season bye week, Glad, Mulholland and Stertzer started in Real Monarchs' USL season opener Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
While RSL finds itself in a somewhat precarious position, Sporting KC could be without some key starters itself. Midfielder Roger Espinoza will miss the match due to a red-card suspension. Captain Matt Besler suffered a concussion in training while with the U.S. men's national team in Guatemala and was released back to the club this weekend.
According to The Kansas City Star, the length of Besler's absence from the training field will be determined sometime this week. It appears he's unlikely to play Saturday against RSL.
But the Star reported midfielder Benny Feilhaber, a notable RSL nemesis, is ready to make his 2016 debut this weekend. The Sporting KC star missed the first three matches of the year due to an abdominal strain.
No matter the personnel in either team's starting lineup, RSL-Sporting KC outings are generally a testy 90-plus minutes. Mulholland expects the same Saturday night.
"I think any team in this league that has a full crowd, full-capacity stadium full of fans cheering on their team and shouting abuse at the opposition is always a hard place to go to," he said. "That's what it is. Obviously, [we have the] mindset of going down there and getting three points."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
RSL at Sporting KC
P Saturday, April 2, 6:30 p.m.
TV • KMYU