It’s been a long, if unseasonably warm, winter on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Among the many signs of spring emerging is one circled on every fan’s calendar: the home opener, which sees Toronto FC host Charlotte FC at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon.

The side is ready.

“Focus, that's been the big word of the week – just a real intense focus to do whatever it takes to keep the momentum moving forward,” said John Herdman on Friday from the stadium. “We know it'll be a full house tomorrow and the fans will be excited to see the team back, but, as I've said to the players, we have to stay focused on our processes, not get carried away with the expectation or the need to redeem or excite.”

“We’ve just got to keep moving forward in a positive direction and that's results, getting something out of this game tomorrow,” he urged.

“This is our stadium. This is our city. We're back home.”

Toronto opened the season with a pair of tricky away fixtures, earning a point at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium in the first and taking all three from the New England Revolution at notoriously unfriendly Gillette Stadium in the second.

Four points, zero goals against, players stepping up in big moments and working for each other. Spring personified.

“We had a great game in New England, but we can't let this get to our heads,” said the man who scored the only goal last weekend, Lorenzo Insigne, through a translator. “We have to stay concentrated for every game. We have our home opener coming up and we have to focus [that].”

From the actions during the 90 minutes and the interactions before and after, two interlaced elements come to the forefront: there is an intensity to TFC this season and the boys are enjoying themselves.

“We're having fun, but also there's an edge, every day, to the way we compete, the way we show up every day,” said defender Shane O’Neill, part of the leadership group. “It's fun when it's free flowing, but there's an intensity there this season that's been really nice and it's helped us a lot in the opening games.”

From the actions during the 90 minutes and the interactions before and after, two interlaced elements come to the forefront: there is an intensity to TFC this season and the boys are enjoying themselves.

“We're having fun, but also there's an edge, every day, to the way we compete, the way we show up every day,” said defender Shane O’Neill, part of the leadership group. “It's fun when it's free flowing, but there's an intensity there this season that's been really nice and it's helped us a lot in the opening games.”

Concurred Insigne: “Yes, we all see the differences.”

“While we are very happy when we're working together, we're working hard,” he continued.

“We have been enthusiastic off the field, which brings it onto the pitch. It's important to have fun, but the journey is long, the season is long, and we need to stay concentrated.”

One of the messages Herdman highlighted in the build up to the season opener was that TFC needed to prove themselves right before worrying about proving any of the doubters wrong.

180 minutes in, they have the doubters' attention.

Closer to home it’s about rebuilding the trust with the fans who make the pilgrimage to BMO Field every match day.

Neither process will be speedy.

“The first step was not losing in Cincy, doing what no TFC team had done in that stadium. The second step was doing what only two other teams have done in that New England stadium, and then making that step to be the only team [left] with a clean-sheet in MLS,” replied Herdman, asked how the home opener fit into that journey. “I keep saying to the guys, if they focus on us, on our pioneering, on our ability to do things that other teams haven't or what they haven't done in the shirt previously, then things will take care of themselves, the trust will come back.”

“Trust takes time; it will take time,” he continued. “A result tomorrow won't solidify that trust, but it'll keep moving in the right direction. This is a team that's finished [around the] bottom of the league the last three years. It takes time.”

This Herdman knows personally: “Being a Newcastle fan, it doesn't take a couple of wins to get back on side with your club, your team, you’ve got to earn it. The main thing is the effort – the fans need to see that commitment and effort.”

TFC will be in tough on Saturday against another side off to an unbeaten start to their campaign.

Charlotte, in their first season under English coach Dean Smith, beat NYCFC 1-0 at home in their opening match and followed that up last weekend with a 1-1 draw away to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Defender Adilson Malanda scored the game-winner against New York, while Iuri Tavares provided a screamer of a strike in Vancouver.

“Charlotte are a tough team, they're like a Championship team in [England] – very front-to-back quickly, [battling for] second balls. They can play as well. Very athletic. Transitionally a big threat, set-pieces a big threat,” warned Herdman. “Dean's got them in a really good rhythm as well: [tied for] second [fewest] in goals conceded and the lowest defensive xG in the league. They're a proper team.”

“It's going to be a hell of a test for us because if we show up and think we're going to be playing a brand of football against that team, they're not going to let you,” he added.

“This is a different test tomorrow. It's not the little pocket players of [Luciano] Acosta and [Carles] Gil that we had last week, there are big, physical athletes that are going to test us.”

Toronto won the first two meetings between the sides during Charlotte’s expansion season in 2022, but the two drew the match at BMO Field last season before Charlotte won the most recent meeting last October.

The difference between playing at home and playing away in MLS is huge, just like it was when Herdman was navigating qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with the Men’s National Team.

He is looking forward to patrolling the touchlines in Toronto once more and instilling many of those same instincts to a team in red.

“When we've played at BMO Field with the National Team, there was always a philosophy of owning the opposition half. The mentality was always, ‘When you're at home, BMO Field, it’s our fortress; to get after games and give the fans what they want,’” recalled Herdman. “The away match is different. You're in enemy territory, you've got to find a way to win there.”

“But here it's about our identity first and then once we've committed to that mentally, it's about delivering on the adversity that's going to come, which will be Charlotte and their playing style,” he continued. “This is a very difficult opponent – not the type that you want in your first match at home.”

“They can make the game very ugly, very quickly,” he closed. “And if you're not willing to get in that fight and win second balls and put your body on the line, you're going to suffer against this team.”