The third Hudson River Derby of 2017 is almost upon us.
Following on from two thrilling victories for NYCFC against Red Bulls in June and August, Patrick Vieiraâs men can clinch a series sweep with another win on Friday night.
Itâs an enticing carrot for fans to consider but, for the players, this is a game which theyâll approach like any other, according to Tommy McNamara.
West Nyackâs finest started the 2-0 win at Red Bull Arena in June and heâs motivated by the prospect of moving closer to Toronto FC at the Eastern Conference summit with the three points.
McNamara told NYCFC.com: âItâs a very important game â Red Bulls are a good team. Itâs very difficult in this league to play a team three times to win three games.
âWeâre treating this one the same as weâve treated the past two games and how it always is â thereâs three points up for grabs.
âWeâre fighting to try and catch Toronto at this point, so these three points are very important for this reason.â
READ: Major Keys to NYCFC vs. Red Bulls
McNamara watched on as his teammates came back from a goal down to defeat New England last time out on Sunday.
The New Yorker paid tribute to the role the fans played, roaring on the Boys in Blue to their third successive victory.
With the opportunity to clinch a joint club record fourth straight triumph on Friday, McNamara is looking for the same concentration and focus.
âIt was great to see the fightback of this team and to see the supporters and how loud they got to get behind us in the last game,â Tommy reflected.
âObviously, we didnât want to give up the first goal and it was a little bit unlucky but these things happen in soccer. Moving into this week, itâs important to take the mentality that whatever happens in this game we stick together and weâre going to fight through it.
âWeâll have our supporters behind us and thereâs a very good chance we can get a result out of the game.â
