A three-week break might sound appealing to some individuals. It provides an opportunity to step away, unwind both mentally and physically, and tackle those small tasks that have been lingering on your to-do list.

In a way, that is how it has been for FC Dallas since their disappointing exit from the Group Stage of this year’s Leagues Cup tournament. Instead of advancing in the tournament and playing a game every three to five days like most Major League Soccer clubs did in August, FC Dallas saw themselves at home, preparing for their return to the field this weekend in Washington, D.C.

The team has been able to rest up and more importantly get players healthy that have been missing for a portion of the season like Jesus Ferreira, Asier Illarramendi and Alan Velasco.

“To have all of those players back is very important for us,” said interim manager Peter Luccin during his weekly press conference. “That practice environment is good because everybody is pushing more, everybody wants to play. All that new environment for us is is beautiful. It's very good.”

The Dallas injury report will be a bit thinner this week when it gets officially announced on Friday afternoon by MLS. The club should only have three players listed with Geovani Jesus, Paxton Pomykal and Liam Fraser all still recovering from various injuries.

The Dallas manager did preach some patience with players like Velasco and Ferreira returning. Velasco is coming off a nine-month ACL recovery and Ferreira has been dealing with a muscle issue all season long that has caused him to miss 13 regular season games (along with Leagues Cup and US Open Cup games). Despite the layoff in play from the Leagues Cup, Luccin is still eager to see what the two can bring to the club once they step out on the field.

“We need to be very careful with the players who are coming back from injury,” stressed Luccin. “I know we had a crucial moment, as I said before, with players like Velasco coming back. I don’t want to use them for one game and lose them for the other eight. So we need to be smart with that, working with our medical staff to make the best decisions.”

Luccin will also be welcoming in two new faces to his roster with right back Ruan and defensive midfielder Manuel “Show” Cafumana. Both are players the club has been chasing for some time, with Ruan being on their radar since 2019.

“He have been one of the best right back wing back in the league for the past maybe decade,” said Luccin. “And at the same time, we know that in that position we can, we have Ema (Twumasi), Paul (Arriola) sometimes can play in that position.”

Going into the weekend, FC Dallas will face a D.C. United squad that they saw in preseason. Dallas came away with a win in that February meeting, but Luccin isn’t expecting to draw upon that result all that much come Saturday when his club hits the pitch at Audi Field for the first time since 2018.

“A preseason game is totally different. You know the intensity isn’t the same. Everyone is coming and playing with heavier legs and there are no fans in the stadium,” explained Luccin. “It is going to be totally different. We didn’t even talk about that game. I’m more concerned about what they did in their last three or four games.”

United enter Saturday’s game in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after exiting the Leagues Cup in the Round of 32. Before that tournament, the Black-and-Red had a two-game winning streak in league play after an eleven-game winless streak.

A win for FC Dallas could see them jump up into a playoff position that they are currently three points back from at the moment.

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