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Swope Park rangers are in Oklahoma City to face the Energy for the fourth time this season. With a win the Rangers can clinch a playoff spot in their first season. It will not be an easy task though; former Sporting Kansas City keeper Jimmy Nielsen’s Energy has swept the season series so far. The match is at 6 P.M. CT and can be watched via a live stream available on SportingKC.com.
The Rangers (11-10-6) with 39 points sit just one spot and three points behind the Energy (10-5-12). While the Energy have dominated the results of their matches with SPR so far, they have struggled in their last few games only getting five points in their last five matches. The Rangers have been getting stronger on the other hand with 10 points in their last five games. Their only loss was with a Sporting KC heavy lineup when the senior team used the game as a chance to get a number of players coming off of injuries some time.
Despite the good form for Swope Park, head coach Mark Dos Santos knows it will not be an easy trip. “It's funny, we have beat better teams but we have a tough time with them and it's going to be tough again. It's a special place to play when it comes to the turf conditions; I think it's not a good turf over there.”
“Every game you watch of Oklahoma in Oklahoma it's a lot of throw ins, corner kicks, set plays, it's never a steady game,” Dos Santos continued. “It's ball bouncing right and left so you need to be ready for a physical battle. I think you know we are a very talented team but we’re also a light team, a fast quick team and we tend to have tough times with teams that are a little bit more physical.I think we’re ready for the game, we have learned from the three games and I think we will be able to get something from this game.”
Swope Park Rangers will be without the services of Aryton. He is suspended with yellow card accumulation but do still have two loans from the first team. Both Ever Alvarado and Emmanuel Appiah will be available for the Rangers.