Sat May 10 21:13:54 2008

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Revs look to take advantage of banged-up Goats D

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Carson, CA (Sports Network) - Defending Major League Soccer Western Conference regular season champions Chivas USA are tied with fellow Los Angeles club, the Galaxy, for the worst goals per game allowed in the league.

Things don't look to improve anytime soon because of mounting injuries to the backline. On Saturday the club announced that defender Jonathan Bornstein would join defender Lawson Vaughn on the injury list, meaning the club's two best defenders would be unavailable for almost two months - Vaughn with facial injuries and Bornstein with a knee injury.

As a result, Chivas USA acquired defender Carey Talley from Real Salt Lake on Friday for a conditional pick in the 2010 or 2011 SuperDraft.

The club will tests its makeshift backline on Sunday when it hosts the New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center.

Conversely, the Revs are just starting to get healthy after playing with a makeshift lineup for the first part of the season. Veteran midfielder Steve Ralston made his return last week after missing six games with a shoulder injury while veteran forward Taylor Twellman could make his season debut after being listed as probable on the injury report.

"You could see the difference when he came on," Revs coach Steve Nicol said of Ralston when he returned last week. "He can keep the ball, can play the through ball, he takes up good positions to give and receive it and good positions when we lose it. He's just a quality player."

"I'm not 100 percent, but I felt good," Ralston said.

The team is coming off a loss against Chicago and will be looking to rebound at Chivas.

"It was nice to be back and be part of it and play," Ralston said. "It's disappointing and not the result we were looking for. Playing at home, losing 3-0, is not acceptable. We pride ourselves on doing well at home and tonight, just wasn't good."

Chivas is coming off a scoreless draw at Houston, a positive step for the team's defense.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game, a hard-fought game," Chivas coach Preki said. "I'm proud of my group for the way they played, the way they came out, the way we defended."