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Inter Miami coach Phil Neville assured his side is “back on the grind” as it prepares to host the Minnesota United on Saturday.

The Herons are on a five-game unbeaten streak at home but still sit two points away from the Eastern Conference playoff spots. That is largely due to Miami’s poor away form, most recently losing 2-0 to Atlanta United after playing most of the game with 10 men.

Still, Neville was encouraged by the outing.

“What I will say is the boys worked so hard when we went down to 10 men,” he said. “They stayed in the game, and kept fighting and kept running and kept trying. I can’t fault them for that.

“What I’ve said to them at the end is we’re back on the treadmill. We’re back on the grind. We’ve got 19 games left, and 57 points to play for. We’ve got to make sure this week we get back to working hard, get back to the qualities that we have, and that we’re prepared for Minnesota.”

Minnesota fell to a 2-1 defeat against New England last time out and is winless in three away games, leaving the Loons 11th in the Western Conference. Coach Adrian Heath expects another tough task.

“On the road in MLS you only have to look at the home record of every team in the league. The majority of points are taken at home,” he said. “Miami have improved this year, this is far and away (Miami’s) best team. Maybe not on paper, but certainly results-wise that they’ve had.

“Phil’s had time to now to work with this group, so it’s going to be difficult, but I know that we’re more than capable.”

Campana has been the star for Miami this season, leading the scoring charts with seven goals in 15 MLS appearances.

Lod has delivered for Minnesota time after time this season, with his six goals in 14 MLS outings the most of any Loons player.

– This will be the first meeting between Inter Miami and Minnesota United. Minnesota has only played one away match in Florida, a 2-1 victory at Orlando City in March 2018.

– Inter Miami has won four of its last five home matches (D1), including the last two in a row. Miami has just one home winning streak longer than the current two-match run, winning five straight at DRV PNK Stadium from July to September last season.

– Minnesota United has lost seven of its last 11 matches (W3 D1) after a 2-1 defeat at New England on Sunday. The Loons had seven losses in their previous 34 regular season games dating back to May 2021 (W15 D12).

– Jean Mota received his first red card of the season in Miami’s defeat at Atlanta on Sunday. It was the fourth red card for Miami this season, tied for most in MLS, as they’ve had more players sent off (13) than any other team since joining the league in 2020.

– Minnesota United’s last three goals, including Emanuel Reynoso’s penalty on Sunday, have come on set pieces. Overall, eight of Minnesota’s 16 goals this season have been on set plays (50.0 percent) with only the Whitecaps (55.6 percent) getting a higher percentage of their goals on set plays.

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