New England (11-6-5) at Columbus (12-6-4), 7:30 p.m.

Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - The Columbus Crew host the New England Revolution in a top-of-the-table Major League Soccer clash at Crew Stadium on Saturday. The Crew have taken over the top spot in the Eastern Conference after winning four of their last five while New England has slipped in recent weeks, with just one win in five.

The Crew's latest victory - the team's third straight - was 2-1 at FC Dallas last Saturday.

"I thought we showed a lot of character in the first half going down 1-0 and basically responding right away with two goals right away," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said of his team's comeback against the Hoops. "But that's been the character of our team all season. The second half wasn't the most artistic. It was one of those where we had to hang on. It didn't seem like we got any breaks on the calls but our guys held tough. Sometimes when you're not playing your best, you've got to find different ways to win. Overall, I'm just proud of our team and our character."

The Revolution, coming off an embarrassing mid-week loss to Joe Public FC that knocked the MLS club out of the CONCACAF Champions League, are a coming off a 2-2 draw with the Los Angles Galaxy last Saturday in their last league fixture.

"Clearly you can see the difference in one team that had traveled 6,000 miles in the last week and one that's been resting," Revs coach Steve Nicol said of his travel weary club. "You see the sharpness in their play that we didn't have. And frankly, we're never going to be able to do that with what we've been doing. We should be happy, but at the same time, I know if there was a trophy for [guts], our team would win hands down. The way the guys came back, we're one team hanging on at the end, which is incredible for what we've been doing. We're proud of our team, so we're going keep going."

Both teams will be a little shorthanded on Saturday because injuries concerns coupled with the fact that it's an official FIFA international date, watering down the rosters further.

The Crew will be without defender Frankie Hejduk, forward Alejandro Moreno defender Duncan Oughton and forward Ricardo Pierre-Louis because of international duty, while defender Ezra Hendrickson midfielder Cory Elenio are out with injuries. A positive note for the Crew is attacker Emmanuel Ekpo returns after participating in Olympic celebrations in his native Nigeria.

The Revolution will just be without defender Gabriel Badilla because of international duty, but the injury concerns are much greater. The team will be without forwards Kheli Dube and Adam Cristman with Taylor Twellman listed as doubtful, while defender Gary Flood, forward Kenny Mansally and midfielder Steve Ralston are questionable.