As if another sign of the impending close to the MLS regular season was needed, Toronto FC were welcomed to the training pitch on Friday by a blanket of snow.

“We had heard that we were going to see some snow and I thought we'll get a little flurry or something that won't stick, it won't impact us and it literally has not stopped snowing the entire day,” said Greg Vanney, still bundled up, in the now-traditional pre-match Zoom conference call. “We had to shovel snow off of the baseball outfield to create some space for us to move around.”

Not everybody was a fan.

“Cold,” was Nick DeLeon’s response. “My toes were numb. It was actually a really weird feeling trying to run with both big toe and the toe next to it on both my feet completely numb.”

“Thank God it was a shorter session for some of us, but you got to do what you got to do. This is the theme of this year,” he continued. “Curve balls getting thrown at you left and right and you deal with it. On a fun note there was a lot of snow balls being thrown – I did see that. Guys were trying to let loose and have fun, but get what they needed out of the day."

The home-away-from-home in East Hartford, Connecticut providing a little reminder of where they come from and what lies ahead.

“Very similar to last year right before the final when half of the club was out shovelling snow so that the guys could get a training session in before we went to Seattle,” Vanney recalled. “It's a reminder that winter is right around the corner. We got a little taste of it, hopefully it doesn't stay for very long.”

“It's a reminder of the time of year that we’re in right now. We know the importance of this time of year from a soccer perspective,” he added. “All these games are important, they matter, they're playoff-type games.”

Two games remain in the regular season, then come roughly a month of playoffs before a champion is crowned. Much remains to be determined, but that the finish line after a long, difficult year is rounding into view brings a clarifying element.

“Happy on two foots,” levelled DeLeon. “One just to wrap up a crazy 2020, mentally and physically. But then on the other foot to be that close to winning the trophy.”

“We still have a chance at Supporters’ Shield, we still have a chance at the MLS Cup, and we still have a chance at the Canadian cup. There are trophies out there to be won,” he relished. “I'm definitely looking to finish this year on the best possible note, but honestly put it behind me.”

“It's been a gruelling year,” DeLeon added. “I don’t want to sound like I'm complaining because I know for a lot of people it's been a tough year, but for me it definitely has. It'll be nice to get it behind.”

A sentiment to which all can relate.

Last weekend’s result saw the Philadelphia Union take poll position for the Shield – Toronto will need them to drop points to regain the top spot. Put simply the focus is to win the games in front and get ready for an MLS Cup run.

Silverware is what it’s all about in the end.

“Trophies are important, period,” said DeLeon. “They don't come around often. And the fact that the Shield is within reach, it's important.”

“But for me, more importantly, we’ve got to get back on the right foot,” he continued. “The game against New York was a step in the right direction. We were playing with a little bit more bite, which we were lacking in the previous game. In the grand scheme, getting some guys back healthy, getting the full group back together, and going into postseason as strong as possible, but yeah, [the Shield] is important and it's right there.”

TFC will close the season next weekend away to the New York Red Bulls, but not until after a first-ever meeting with expansion side Inter Miami CF, who enter the match on the wrong side of the playoff line in a three-way tie on points for that final berth in the East.

With the announcement that points per game would be the decisive factor, that equates to a mere 0.05 points per game, though Chicago Fire FC, who hold the spot, have a game in hand.

Head Coach Diego Alonso and the front office have put together a talented group, mixing players with MLS experience – Luis Robles, Wil Trapp, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, to name a few – alongside massive international additions – Rodolfo Pizarro and Matias Pellegrini from the start, joined by Blaise Matuidi and Gonzalo Higuain midseason – but consistency has been hard to come by.

“They're trying to solidify their spot in the postseason, so they're going to come out hungry,” forecast DeLeon. “With expansion teams you don't always know what you're going to get.”

“Usually they are talented individuals, they're just not the talented team yet – they're working their way towards that, with their identity and how they want to play the game,” he continued. “One day all their pieces could come together and you're going to get an unbelievable team and then the next day you get the complete opposite.”

“So you have to come into the game with a strong mentality, go on the front foot, put them on their back foot and us being the home team we have to dictate the tempo of the game,” DeLeon added. “The focus is on us: we come out on the right foot, we put them on their back foot, and we force the play in their half. We can control how the game is going to go.”

The inaugural season is usually a difficult one, but 2020 threw challenges unlike any other.

“For an expansion team to come into a year like this, trying to put their group together with a coach also who's never coached in this league, there's a lot of things that they're trying to figure out and settle into and establish and find some continuity and rhythm,” began Vanney. “They have added two big [players], middle of the season, not too terribly long ago.”

“They're an improving team, no doubt; they have some quality, that's for sure. A group probably still learning a little bit about MLS and in a season with a ton of challenges and variables. It's not easy, but they have quality,” he emphasized. “They have players that can hurt you, that are capable of doing brilliant things. They have a very good coach who has won at a lot of places that he's been at and he'll have them organized and they'll continue to develop their identity and how they're going to be successful, but they're trying to put a lot of things together on the fly.”

Miami began the season with five-straight losses, but returned to league action following the MLS is Back Tournament with a massive win over their in-state rivals, Orlando City SC in August. That kicked off a run where they found results in five of seven matches.

A three-match losing skid would see them into October, prompting a run of three unbeaten before dropping a match against the Montreal Impact. A big derby win over high-flying Orlando City buoyed their hopes, but they failed to capitalize on that momentum, losing their most recent game 2-1 away to FC Dallas.

“They have improved throughout the course of the season and the results recently have improved off of where they were earlier, so we're going to have to play well, we're going to have to play better than we did in the last game, we're going to execute better, we have to be more connected than we were in the last game,” Vanney urged. “We want to take steps forward towards, not just in our performances, but also getting people back into the swing of this part of the season and get guys back connected on the field as much as we can.”

Sunday’s match will have a different feel to it, as, in coordination with the State of Connecticut, the club announced earlier this month that up to 5000 fans will be in attendance at Pratt & Whitney Stadium’s Rentschler Field.

Much though the club would rather be playing in their proper home, an atmosphere will be most welcome.

“Sports, in general, is not the same without fans,” said DeLeon. “Being on the field is not the same without fans – the game is so much slower. The fans bring... that energy is real, it's a real thing that all sports need and are missing.”

“So for us to get some fans on Sunday, I couldn't be any happier and I'm looking forward to it,” he added. “Fans are crucial, crucial to the environment of the game and the product on the field.”

Said Vanney: “From a pure soccer perspective, take the health scenario out of that, it'll be kind of nice to just have something that resembles energy in the stadium.”

“We have had that against us, recently in Philadelphia. It was a different feeling to have people in the stands,” he continued. “That brought some energy to the players on the opposite side, but to hear people shouting against us – things that maybe you take for granted when you do it every single week and you just block it out and you move on – because of the nature of how silent the games have been, it's just nice to have some atmosphere and some energy in the stadium.”

“The quantity of people is going to be small, but I can tell you going from zero to a couple thousand will be a huge shift in energy. From a pure soccer perspective, it will be nice to have people there,” Vanney added. “From a health perspective I just hope everybody follows the guidelines and stays healthy and safe and makes good, smart decisions.”