New England Revolution arrive at Yankee Stadium on Sunday evening looking to continue their fine recent run of form.
Jay Heaps’ side have won three of their last four games and are looking up the Eastern Conference.
For NYCFC Head Coach Patrick Vieira, the key to clipping their wings will be to match their hard work on the field and to take the chances when they come.
Vieira told NYCFC.com: “It’s another tough game, when you look at New England and the individual quality they have, it’s going to be a really hard game for us.
“Like always, if we want to compete and if we want to do well, we have to fight, we will have to fight really hard, because we’re going to face a really good team.”
READ: Major Keys to NYCFC vs. New England
The final Hudson River Derby of 2017 is just over the horizon but Vieira isn’t looking any further than the next 90 minute test which lies in front of his players.
Coming off the back of consecutive wins against Red Bulls and LA Galaxy, confidence is high in the camp, but Patrick wants his men to keep it going on Sunday night for the perfect springboard in to our trip to Harrison, New Jersey.
“It’s important for us to take game after game,” Vieira said.
“We have a tough one against New England and we managed to do well in the last two games because I believe we played well as a team, we worked hard as a team and that is the basics of the game.
“It’s important for us to keep that and that’s the minimum we can give in a game. Then, we have to improve the details to try to win the game but we have to keep our togetherness and keep working hard and keeping working well.”
READ: How to Follow NYCFC vs. New England
Vieira has some tough decisions to make when it comes to his team selection now that Khiry Shelton and Rodney Wallace are fully fit.
For a coach, these options are a nice headache to have going into a crucial period in the campaign.
Vieira added: “We’re going through an important period of the season and it’s important that everyone is fit and back from injuries. It’s always good to see Rodney and Khiry on the field as that will give us more options to choose for the games.”
