Revs begin life without Joseph

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Earlier this week, the New England Revolution traded captain Shalrie Joseph to Chivas USA. He was a mainstay with the Revs, spending almost 10 years with the team after being drafted by New England in the second round of the 2002 draft.

Saturday night will be the first time the Revolution will play without him in their organization, since that draft. And it will be against Sporting KC at Gillette Stadium.

In return for the 34-year-old Joseph, the Revs received 23-year-old midfielder Blair Gavin, a second-round pick, and allocation money.

"Trading Shalrie was a not a decision we made easily," said Revolution general manager Michael Burns earlier in the week. "Shalrie has been one of the faces of the club for a decade, but we had to take a hard look at our roster and decide where we needed to be as we look toward the future. Shalrie has accomplished so much as a member of the Revs, and we wish him nothing but best wishes as he moves on to the next stage in his career with Chivas USA.

"With this trade, we gain a significant amount of roster flexibility and add a player in Blair Gavin who has great potential, an additional draft pick next year, plus allocation moneyall of which provides us options to improve the team."

The Revs will need to improve soon if they want to have any shot at the postseason, after going 0-1-2 on their recent three-game road trip. New England is now winless in its last four games, with the last win coming on July 8 at home against New York.

Saturday's match with Sporting KC will be a rematch from two weeks ago, which resulted in a 0-0 draw.

Sporting KC enters Saturday as the third-place team in the Eastern Conference (out of 10) with 37 points on an 11-7-4 record. Meanwhile, the Revolution enter the match as the ninth-place team in the East, with 23 points on a 6-10-5 record.

Unfortunately for New England, its newest acquisition is unlikely to make his Revolution debut, as Gavin is doubtful with hamstring tightness, according to the team's injury report.

Also listed as doubtful is A.J. Soares (hamstring), while Kevin Alston is questionable (hamstring). Ruled out are Alec Purdie (ankle) and Bobby Shuttleworth (knee).

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