Saturday May 10, 2008
ATLANTA—The Atlanta Silverbacks take to the road for the first time in 2008, traveling to Cary, North Carolina to face the Carolina RailHawks at WakeMed Park. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on USLLive.com.

(Photo Caption: Matt Bobo and the Silverbacks travel to WakeMed Park for a season opening rematch versus the Carolina RailHawks. The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw at Silverbacks Park April 19. Photo by Ron Holt)

Saturday will be the second meeting between the  Silverbacks (1-1-1, four points) and the RailHawks (2-0-1, seven points). The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw to open the season for both sides April 19 at Silverbacks Park. Jerson Monteiro scored in the 72nd minute to pull the Silverbacks level after falling behind on a sublime Steven Curfman free kick.

The Silverbacks are fresh off the club's stinging first loss of the season in a rematch of last year's USL-1 championship match, falling to the Seattle Sounders 2-0 at Silverbacks Park last Friday. Along with a mark in the loss column, the Silverbacks also lost 2007 golden boot winner Warren Ukah to a knee injury suffered in a late-game collision with Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander. Ukah underwent an MRI on Monday. Results of the test are pending, but Ukah is expected to undergo surgery at some point, and will miss the remainder of the season.

“Even though we didn't get the result, the performance against Seattle was encouraging,” said head coach Jason Smith. “It was the first time we had our entire team together. The injury to Warren is unfortunate, but part of the game. We just have to continue to improve, and find a way to score some goals.”

The Silverbacks received more bad new during the week with news that Mac Kandji will not be available for Saturday. Kandji underwent an MRI early in the week to evaluate a lingering knee injury that has been causing him some discomfort. Kandji is listed as possible for next Friday's nationally televised home fixture versus Minnesota.

The RailHawks are on a two-game win streak, topping Charleston at Wake Med Park and Miami at Tropical Park last week, both 1-0 results. Former Silverback Dan Antoniuk scored in the 87th minute to give the RailHawks the win.

Saturday night's match is the Silverbacks' away leg in the three-team Southern Derby competition. Last year the RailHawks—in the club's first year in the league—took the title from the Silverbacks, which had retained the crown since 2004. The Southern Derby is a three-way competition between the Silverbacks, Carolina, and Charleston, compiling final home and away results against the other clubs in the competition.

Notes

Walking Wounded
Mike Ambersley, Warren Ukah, Mac Kandji, and Chris Mahaffey will all be unavailable for Saturday's match due to knee injuries. Ambersley and Ukah are out for the season. Kandji and Mahaffey both are suffering from lingering injuries and underwent MRI exams earlier this week. Neither Kandji or Mahaffey will travel to Cary on Saturday. It is not currently know how much time either of them will miss.

Shut Out, Part One
For the first time all season the Silverbacks did not have a player on the weekly Best 11 side.

Shut Out, Part Two
The Silverbacks have yet to score a goal at WakeMed Soccer Park. Both away matches last season ended in 0-0 draws. The Silverbacks went 1-1-2 with the RailHawks last season, losing 2-0 and winning 2-1 at Silverbacks Park.

Call Up
Ansu Toure may miss some upcoming games due to a national team call up for his native Liberia. The west African country faces Senegal on May 30 in a World Cup qualifier, and is currently training in Germany. Toure's departure date has not yet been confirmed.

Debut
Forward Nathan Knox made his Silverback debut last Friday against his former club, coming on for Ansu Toure in the 80th minute. Last season Knox had three goals in 15 appearances for Seattle.

See It
For those unable to travel to Cary, North Carolina for Saturday's match, the game will be broadcast online, on USLLive.com, and can be seen live or on demand.