When the going gets tough, the tough get going. It’s slogan that should be plastered on the  practice jerseys of the New England Revolution after playing through numerous injuries the past few weeks.

A strange loss last Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup against Harrisburg City — in which the Revs only fielded eight players at the end of the game — was followed by a 1-0 loss this past weekend to the L.A. Galaxy.

The Revs have not played at Gillette since a June 28 SuperLiga play contest (which was also when they recorded their last win). The difference between the home and road records this season is glaring — 5-1-2 at home and 1-4-3 on the road.

“When you’re on the road you need experience to win and we haven’t had that,” said head coach Steve Nicol said. “We’ve had a lot of rookies and young guys that don’t have that extra thing that you get with experience but certainly on the road that pulls you through and helps you win games. I think we saw that on Saturday. We should have gotten something from the game but that extra bit of experience in that final part kind of let us down.”

But the loss on Saturday in L.A. was anchored by good news with the return of defender Kevin Alston for a full 90 minutes of play and veteran defender Gabriel Badilla availability off the bench. Alston had been nursing tightness in his right hamstring and Badilla recovering from a buldging disk. Alston said his leg felt fine at practice today but that he was sore from the playing the full game.

Nicol is just hoping for a full team going into this Saturday’s match against Kansas City. The Revs and Wizards have already met twice in the last month, once during regular MLS play and once during a SuperLiga match.

“I think we want to play the game with eleven men,” Nicol said. “I think the last three games we’ve played them we’ve ended the game with ten men for a huge part of the game. I think first of all we want to keep everybody on the field and that will give us a better chance.”

Nicol hopes that Steve Ralston, who had been sidelined because of a right hamstring strain but was moved up to questionable, may be ready for the weekend. He was at practice Wednesday doing some drills with the team. Chris Tierney, who strained his left MCL in practice last Friday, sat out Saturday but also might be available against Kansas City. Mauricio Castro (left hamstring strain) and Chris Albright (left lateral meniscus tear) were at practice kicking a ball around.

“It will be good to have everybody back, but it’s nice to have choices now,” Nicol said.

The Revs will be short one more defender for this weekend’s match, but for good reason. Jay Heaps has been participating in the CONCACAF Gold Cup as a member of the U.S. National Team. The U.S. will play Haiti on Saturday night at Gillette following the Revs-Wizards match.

“Number one, it’s great for him,” Nicol said. “He’s put a lot of hard work in throughout the years and again he has been consistent the whole time and he’s basically getting his reward. He’s there on merit and he deserves to be there. Obviously for us here and this area it’s good to see your own, not only doing well, but doing it with the national team.”

Honduras and Grenada will round out the Gillette tripleheader after the U.S.-Haiti match.

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