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POSTED May 19, 3:11 PM

As bad as D.C. United's loss was on Saturday night -- third defeat in a row, fifth in six games -- spirits seemed pretty good at training this morning. Maybe it was the weather, or the fact that Devon McTavish (training fully), Fred, and Gonzalo Peralta are all set for the traveling contingent to Toronto on Wednesday, as confirmed by United head coach Tom Soehn.

Said Soehn: "Injecting some starters back into the lineup is going to be a real positive for us, and the mentality – while it was a hard loss the other night, our mentality is still pretty strong. I still believe in these guys, and I know we’ll pull through it."

Did Luciano Emilio learn what he needed to learn by sitting the first part of the Chivas match?
Soehn: "We'll find out."

How about Francis Doe?
"He did okay. I think he needed to show for us a little bit more. I don’t think he got involved in the play enough in possession, but defensively he worked pretty hard."

Understandable, then, that Doe is looking forward to seeing what happens on Wednesday. I also asked him whether the coaching staff, under increasing pressure, has the support of the team?
"From what I saw today from the coach, I think the support is there because the way he talked to us this morning, I think it’s there right now."

On a side note, ticket sales are at 14,000 for this weekend's "return leg" of the home-and-home series against Toronto. More than 25,000 have been sold for the June 29 game against David Beckham and Los Angeles. With the Euro 2008 final scheduled for right after DCU/LA ends, it remains to be seen whether the game will be shown inside RFK. At this point, keep yer options open.