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VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Whitecaps may have been buoyed by their performance in a goal-less draw away to the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend, but the teams coaches werent leaving anything to chance. Head coach Martin Rennie and his assistants were not impressed with what they saw at a practice on Wednesday, and they laid down the law before Vancouver departed for yet another must-win clash on the road to the Montreal Impact. With six games remaining, the playoff hopes of the seventh-placed Whitecaps (10-10-8) are hanging by a thread at the moment, as the club sits five points behind fifth-placed Portland, who are scheduled to face Colorado on Friday. "Rennie is just making sure we stay on top of our game," said Whitecaps captain Jay DeMerit. "It wasnt the best performance weve had all year but its something we can build on and we need to make sure on the training field that it continues to stem from that. "So I think for us its about being hard on each other, being critical in the right ways and making sure we all stay on the same page." Rennie felt he had to read his players the Riot Act after noticing a drop in intensity and focus from Saturday. "I think in the last game all the players were making themselves available to get on the ball and we kept good possession because of that and everybody was lively and hungry," he said. "And today in training it wasnt as good as wed have liked so I was just pointing that out and reminding people what we need to get to for the weekend." Rennie and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker believed last weekends match in California was their best road performance of the season but the Impact (13-8-6) will no doubt present a tougher challenge. Montreal, second in the Eastern Conference, have had no trouble finding the back of the net at Stade Saputo this season, amassing a league-high 29 goals on home turf. Marco Schallibaums outfit had recorded three wins (two of them emphatic 5-0 and 4-2 wins over Houston and New England respectively) and a draw before falling 2-1 to lowly Columbus last weekend. The Impact then lost 3-0 away to San Jose in the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night. Italian striker Marco Di Vaio was deadly in that five-game MLS span, scoring seven goals to lift his season tally to a league-best 18. Luckily for the Whitecaps, Rennie -- perhaps for the first time since the beginning of a season -- finally has a range of options in central defence to choose from now that DeMerit has returned to game action and Andy OBrien (back) and Johnny Leveron (calf) are both available. DeMerit was forced into last weekends game after 31 minutes when Brad Rusin went down with an ankle injury and he partnered up with Carlyle Mitchell. It was DeMerits first appearance since suffering an Achilles injury early in the opening game of the season against Toronto FC on March 2. Although Rennie said it would take a "team effort" to stop Di Vaio, he was nonetheless excited about having more resources at his disposal. "Maybe we can play all four of them in centre back," he joked. "This season weve really had a hard time with our centre-backs getting hurt so the fact that we have a little bit of competition in a position is nice and I think it can be important because if you keep struggling through that, then its a hard thing. "A lot of people probably dont realize how much of a foundation the centre-backs are to any team and we have not had a consistent partnership there but I think in the last game Jay and Carlyle Mitchell did very well." Rennie has had no injury issues up front in recent times, but the lack of goals from Kenny Miller and Camilo is starting to hurt the teams playoff hopes. The pair have not scored since the 2-0 win over San Jose at BC Place on August 10, which was Vancouvers last win. Miller says he isnt fazed by the dry spell engulfing him and his Brazilian teammate, but hinted a little help from the rest of the team would be welcome. "Sometimes with strike partnerships they kind of dovetail and maybe one guy might not be scoring but the other guy does," said Miller. "And when the other guy dries up the other guy can pick the baton up, but unfortunately for us its not quite working that way. "But its a team game, we defend as a team, we attack as a team and if the strikers arent getting goals, its up to other lads to come in and chip in with a few." Mark Jackson Jersey . He insists hes not counting. "If youre thinking hits, youre not paying attention to wins," Altuve said Sunday after leading the Houston Astros past the Texas Rangers 3-2. Myles Turner Jersey . INJURIES - Cardinals 1B Matt Adams has been put on the DL with calf tightness, resulting in some lineup shifting, with Allen Craig moving from right field to first base, so that the Cardinals could bring up top prospect Oscar Taveras, who was the No. http://www.cheappacersjerseyssale.com/kids-thaddeus-young-pacers-jersey/ . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Cory Joseph Jersey .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. Custom Indiana Pacers Jerseys . The Tournament of Champions, which starts Friday, is his first event since a freak accident in Shanghai two months ago. Snedeker was on a Segway scooter during a corporate outing at Sheshan International when he took a tumble and injured his left knee.MONTREAL - A testy draw in Toronto will leave the Montreal Impact short three defenders for its Major League Soccer regular season finale against D.C. United on Saturday.Veterans Matteo Ferrari, Hassoun Camara and Heath Pearce will sit out the match with suspensions.Happily for Montreal, all three will be available for the match they consider most important, a CONCACAF Champions League contest Wednesday night against the New York Red Bulls.Pearce will serve an automatic one-game suspension for taking a straight red card late in Montreals 1-1 draw at Toronto on Saturday. Camara was ejected in the dying minutes for being shown a second yellow card in the match, while Ferrari was cautioned in the 55th minute and will sit out a league game for yellow card accumulation.That will leave them with a mostly inexperienced back line when they face D.C. at Saputo Stadium in Marco Di Vaios farewell match.Available defenders are Futty Danso, rookie left back Eric Miller and academy products Wandrille Lefevre, Karl Ouimette and Maxim Tissot, a midfielder who can also play left back.Well try to put out a strong group to try to win the game, coach Frank Klopas said Monday. Its the last game of the season, but because of those suspensions, were going to have to make adjustments, for sure.They will likely use Danso and Lefevre in the middle, with Ouimette and Miller on the outside, but Tissot is ready if they need help.Well need people, said Tissot, a native of Gatineau, Que. Ive been used at left-mid and left back. I dont know if theyll put me on defence,, but if they do, Ill be ready.ddddddddddddThe Impact (6-18-9) will finish last in the Eastern Conference, but have picked up their game of late with two wins, a loss and three draws in their last six.The tie at BMO Field eliminated Toronto FC from the playoffs, but it left Montreal winless on the road for the season (0-12-5).It was a match they felt they could have won, with Jack McInerney hitting the bar in the second half among a handful of wasted chances.In the second half we played well, we created a lot of chances, said Klopas. We were right there, but we didnt put our chances away.But its a big difference, because in games like that at the beginning (of the season), we would have found a way to not to walk away with any points. The mentality was very good. The win didnt come, but you felt good walking away from that game.Klopas confirmed that designated player Ignacio Piatti will not play either match this week. The Argentine is nursing tendinitis in a knee.As bad as the MLS season has been, Montreal has made up for it in the Champions League. They lead their three-team group at 3-0-0 and have qualified for the quarter-finals, which will be played between Feb. 24 and March 5.A win over the Red Bulls could make them one of the top four seeds and give them the advantage of playing the second leg at home.Di Vaio is suspended for the CONCACAF match, so he will be rested for the final game of his career on Saturday. The 38-year-old is to retire and is expected to take a job with his former Italian Serie A club Bologna. ' ' '