Music: {allcanada} Canada won't alter tactics against Americans

TORONTO -- Don't expect coach Stephen Hart to field an experimental starting line-up when Canada hosts the United States in an international friendly Sunday at BMO Field.

The contest against the Americans is Canada's final tune-up match before the start of the next round of World Cup qualifying, which sees the Canadians take on Cuba on June 8. Four days later, Canada returns to BMO Field to host Honduras in another crucial qualifier

Hart views Sunday's match as an opportunity to do some team building and try to improve the chemistry between the players ahead of the crucial match in Havana -- and not as a chance to tinker.

"I think the time for experimenting is finished," Hart told reporters on Friday.

"We had a series of games in the (previous) round of qualifying (and) due to injuries or unforeseen circumstances I had a lot of different players go through that system. But now we know what we need to do and any thought of changes (is) not necessary now."

A rash of recent injuries may force Hart into making some changes, though. In May, defender Marcel de Jong and midfielder Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault were ruled out with long-term injuries. Then last week, midfielder Josh Simpson broke his leg while playing for Swiss club BCS Young Boys.

Now there are new injury concerns for Hart to worry about. The Canadian coach confirmed that one player only took part in light training Friday, while another did not practise at all. Hart said he had to speak with his medical staff to determine whether or not the two players will be fit to play on Sunday.

Hart did not name names, but sportsnet.ca learned that midfielder Atiba Hutchinson did not train with Canada Friday, and that defender Mike Klukowski picked up a minor knock during the team's recent training camp in Florida.

The U.S. is coming off a pair of recent friendlies, defeating Scotland 5-1 last Saturday before falling 4-1 to Brazil on Wednesday night. By contrast, Canada has not played since Feb. 29, losing 3-1 to Armenia in a friendly staged in Cyprus.

There's no doubt that the Americans, ranked 29th in the FIFA world rankings, come into this match as the sharper side. But the Canadians, ranked 75th, can't do anything about the disparity in preparations. As Hart explained, the team simply has to get on with it.

"I'm sure it (will have) some sort of impact but as you know we just don't have the depth to have two separate squads in operation at the same time. We had our training camp ... and this game will be important leading up to the Cuba game," the Canadian coach said.

Although the U.S. is the better team, Canada will not show their neighbours to the south too much respect on the field.

"I told the players I don't want to focus on us designing a complete plan to stop the U.S. form playing and then when you go down to Cuba you have to play your game," Hart said. "We have to come out there with an attitude that we play our game and with the qualities that we're good at, and be consistent."

What are some of those qualities?

Hart explained: "If you look at how we've played, we have a good possession game at times. Some time we tend to be a bit one-paced, a little bit slow in possession and we've worked really hard on changing the speed of the game, and changing the way we attack. We have to do that more efficiently."

One thing Hart would like to see is his players become more ruthless in front of goal and convert their scoring opportunities, something they didn't always do in the previous World Cup qualifying round.

"We create chances but we're not clinical enough," Hart admitted. "We need more (of a) killer instinct in the penalty area for sure."

As for the U.S., they're in a similar boat as Canada, with their World Cup qualifying campaign resuming next Friday with a home match against Antigua and Barbuda.

So Sunday's match, which marks the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial, is just as important to the U.S. with regards to team building and doing some fine tuning ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

"Sunday is about a celebration, but also a match-up and a rivalry and having and exciting game for both sides. Five days later it's about getting the job done," American coach Jurgen Klinsmann stated.

Klinsmann said that forward Clint Dempsey is in a bit of fight to regain fitness ahead of Sunday's match. The Fulham star sat out the game against Scotland and only came on as a second-half substitute against Brazil. The injury previously prevented Dempsey from playing in the Premiership season finale for Fulham.