PREVIEW | Strikers vs. Eddies

FC Edmonton will play its second match of the NASL Fall Season against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Saturday, July 11, at Lockhart Stadium. The Eddies sit in second place in the Fall Season standings with three points, four goals for and zero against after the Strikers drew 1-1 with the Carolina RailHawks on Wednesday night.

The Eddies are coming off an impactful 4-0 win over the 2014 NASL Champions San Antonio Scorpions in Fort McMurray. NASL Player of the Week Lance Laing scored a pair of goals and Edmonton Academy products Hanson Boakai and Sadi Jalali added a goal each to give Edmonton their biggest win of 2015. Internationals Laing and Boakai will both be unavailable for Saturday’s match as they compete in the Gold Cup and Pan Am Games, respectively. Jalali will no doubt be tasked by head coach Colin Miller to play a key role for the squad once again.

Fort Lauderdale finished the Spring Season in 8th place with 11 points. The team went winless in May, and while they won their last match of the Spring Season against Minnesota United, both head coach and general manager were released prior to the start of the Fall Season. Newly appointed head coach Günter Kronsteiner is actually quite familiar with the Strikers, having coached from 2013-14, while leading the team to The Championship Final in 2014 before falling short to San Antonio.

A number of Eddies continue to be sidelined with a multitude of injuries, forcing Miller to take a smaller-than-usual squad to Florida.

“We don’t need to do anything differently from Sunday against San Antonio,” Miller said. “It is a very depleted squad in terms of players that we could have available to us, but the guys that are fit and healthy to travel are all absolutely committed to getting the three points on Saturday night.”