Baltimore MD - After back-to-back games against Major League Soccer opposition in the US Open Cup, Crystal Palace Baltimore return to league action on Saturday night in Cleveland. The Baltimore side finds itself tied for fourth place in the USL2 standings but with three games in hand over each of the teams above. The City Stars are tied for second place and Palace will be looking to win this crucial encounter and cut the deficit to just one point. Palace ended a three-game losing streak in the league when they met Cleveland at home back on June 13th, running out 2-1 winners on the back of goals from each of their top scorers, Pat Healey and Gary Brooks. That win marked the start of a revival of Palace’s league form as they then held Wilmington to a 2-2 draw on the road and toppled Real Maryland 2-1 also away from home.

Palace Co-Manager Pete Medd travelled to Ohio without his fellow Co-Manager, Jim Cherneski, whose wife gave birth to their second child on Wednesday. Medd told us that, apart from Alex Ughiovhe, who is still struggling with a knee injury, he has a full-strength squad from which to choose for this key fixture. “I’ll probably be using everybody available throughout the game, because we do have some tired legs.” Medd said. “We’ve got to get back on the horse real quick,” he added, referring to Tuesday’s heart-breaking penalty shoot-out loss to the New England Revolution in the US Open Cup quarter-finals. “Cleveland’s near the top and we’ve got no time to hang our heads.”

Medd remarked that it would be interesting to see Cleveland’s newly signed defender, Kenyan legend, Musa Otieno. The 34-year old made over 100 appearances for the Kenyan national team between 1993 and 2008, serving as captain for the past eight years before announcing his retirement from international football earlier this year. Otieno made his debut for Cleveland last week as a substitute in their 3-1 win over Western Mass on July 4th.

Prior to their defeat of the Pioneers last Friday, the City Stars played out three consecutive 0-0 draws at home. Those dropped points are disappointing on the one hand, but on the other, they mean an impressive record remains intact: “They don’t lose at home,” remarked Medd. “Actually they’ve never lost at home in their history [Cleveland entered the league last season], so a win will be a tall order but I think we can handle it.”

Palace return home for their next game on Friday, July 18th at 7:30pm when they take on the Western Mass Pioneers at UMBC Stadium.  You can buy tickets for that match here.