He's a going concern

Revolution await Mansally's return

Kenny Mansally played in two recent World Cup qualifying games for The Gambia. (File/Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)

FOXBOROUGH - The Revolution are discovering the advantages of having young African players on the roster. But the team is also confronting difficulties relating to those players' international obligations.

Forward Kenny Mansally has been with The Gambia national team since late May and, despite concluding this round of World Cup qualifying last Friday, had not returned to training as of yesterday.

Mansally, who started the first 10 games of the season, is expected to be available for tonight's game against Toronto FC, but will be in a reserve role.

"We were good enough to let [Mansally] go, they should be good enough to get him back here," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said of The Gambia Football Association.

Mansally played in two qualifiers for The Gambia as a reserve against Algeria.

"He won't be starting," Nicol said of Mansally. "But if he had been here Tuesday, he would not start, anyway."

The Revolution have not lost many players to international duty outside the region since Chiquinho Conde performed for Mozambique in 1997.

"I talked to [Mansally] and he was leaving Thursday and should be here [last night]," said teammate Sainey Nyassi, who joined the Revolution along with Mansally after performing in the Under-20 World Cup in Canada last year.

Nyassi said the Revolution refused to allow him to depart for a U20 qualifier against Mauritania this week.

"I really wanted to go, but it is not a FIFA date, and the coaches said no," Nyassi said. "I hope to go for the return game in two weeks' time. I really want to go and help them."

Mansally and Nyassi sparked the Revolution in the opening games of the season. In recent matches, Adam Cristman and Kheli Dube have bolstered the offense and are tied with Steve Ralston for the team lead with four goals.

Dube also has split his focus between the Revolution and Africa, not just because Zimbabwe is struggling in qualifying but also because of the political situation.

"I am keeping in touch with them," Dube said of Zimbabwe's politics. "It is a tough situation. I hope for the best for the country."

Cristman and Dube will pair as the Revolution strikers, with Taylor Twellman in reserve.

"He's not injured but he hasn't trained in, what, three months?" Nicol said of Twellman, who missed the first seven games of the season recovering from knee surgery, sprained his right ankle after scoring May 11 in his first game back, and has been out since. "Physically, he's back to normal but he's short on games."

The Revolution have played conservatively with shorthanded lineups on the road but plan to set the pace with a 3-5-2 alignment against Toronto FC.

"We like to think, if we do our stuff, it will make it difficult for them to come at us," Nicol said.

Nicol expects Toronto FC to present a 4-4-2 formation with Jeff Cunningham and Danny Dichio at forwards. But Toronto will likely use attacking midfielder Amado Guevara in place of Cunningham, Dichio performing as a lone striker.

The Revolution (8-4-3, 27 points) lead Major League Soccer's overall standings and have a 3-2-2 home record. Toronto FC has a 1-4-0 record (7-14 goal differential) away from home . . . University of Massachusetts goalkeeper Zack Simmons attended Revolution training yesterday.

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.