Washington, D.C. (My Sportsbook) - D.C. United hosts the Colorado Rapids on Saturday in a Major League Soccer match between two clubs desperate for a positive result.

United is coming off a mid-week fixture that saw it fall to Eastern Conference leading New England, which dropped the club to a tie for fourth place in the table.

United went down 2-0 in the game before Jaime Moreno pulled one back, but that was as close as it could get as the team lost its 10 game of the year.

"In the first half, I don't think we executed what we came to do," D.C. coach Tom Soehn said. "Second half, I think it got better. We moved the ball around a little bit better."

United (9-10-1) will be shorthanded with midfielder Fred and goalkeeper Zach Wells joining defender Gonzalo Peralta and Marcelo Gallardo, among others, on the injury report. All four will be unavailable Saturday.

"It's always going to happen," Moreno said of the injuries. "It's part of the game. It's a great opportunity for other guys. It's an opportunity for them to show they belong on D.C. United."

Colorado (7-10-3) is coming off a 2-1 win in its last league fixture that snapped a four-game winless streak. As a result, the rapids are in a position to jump into the top three in the West with a victory.

There is some turmoil on the team, however, as head coach Fernando Clavijo has left the team and has been replaced by former assistant Gary Smith, who will assume the club's head coaching position for the remainder of the 2008 season on an interim basis.

"We appreciate all that Fernando has done for this team over the last four years and wish him and his family the best," Rapids managing director Jeff Plush said. "He has worked tirelessly on behalf of our organization and brought us some of our greatest successes. We are poised to achieve great things, and when we do we will look back fondly and appreciatively of Fernando's tenure with our club."

Smith led the rapids to the victory over Kansas city last week.

"It wasn't pretty," he said. "I think we've played a hell of a lot better than that at times and not got a result. But the three points were more important than anything else, and it just gives us a terrific platform to go into the three away games. The way results go in our league, this catapults us back into the mix again, and we have to push on from there."