With a last-minute loss to Dallas behind them and a pivotal first-place matchup against Columbus ahead of them, the MetroStars travel to Colorado tonight hoping to regain the form that made them one of the hottest team in MLS over the past few weeks.

They’d lacked continuity early on, but injuries finally got them to settle a forward tandem. The duo of Cornell Glen and John Wolyniec started a team-high five straight league games, and the results were a 3-0-1 mark – until Sunday’s 91st-minute 1-0 heartbreaker against Dallas.

The Glen-Wolyniec combination of speed and strength had started every game since July 17, with Mike Magee joining them as an attacking midfielder in the next tilt. But they backslid as a group last weekend, and need to rebound tonight against the Rapids.

“We learned, and now we’re ready to play a good game in Colorado,” coach Bob Bradley said. “We need better attacking ideas, better work from our forwards, better understanding between forwards, timing of runs. It wasn’t as good the other day as we would’ve liked.”

The first-place Metros (9-7-5, 32 points) won’t have Magee, out with a sprained MCL, so look for Amado Guevara to move back to his old spot and Ricardo Clark to start at D-mid vs. Colorado (7-7-8, 29 points).

Glen has been hobbled with a bad ankle from a Trindidad & Tobago friendly. Jamaican forward Fabian Taylor is also banged-up, but the two should be able to combine for 90 minutes opposite Wolyniec.

“John and I have been playing together a lot, and have good timing,” Glen said. “Fabian got injured and I got an opportunity to get back on the field. I’ve working as hard as I can to keep my spot. Communication is there, but since the last injury, I’ve had a hard time shooting: coordination, balance, everything is off.”

Taylor, who returned to practice from his injured foot in Tuesday, said, “We need that extra pass. We’re also working on positioning of attackers, working with our back to the goal.”