Vancouver FC are going into Friday's game against league champion Calgary Cavalry with several players yet to arrive, head coach Afshin Ghotbi warned. 

"We are the big underdogs going into this match," Ghotbi told a pre-match media availability on Wednesday.

Currently, the team is waiting for seven players including five who have been held up "due to various visa issues," Ghotbi explained.

"It's difficult that we don't have all of them."

Ghotbi said the holes in the line-up contributed to the team's two back-to-back losses as the season got underway, including last Sunday's 4-1 loss on home field in 91原创, to Atl茅tico Ottawa.

Vancouver FC have now gone 10 straight matches, dating back to last season, without a victory.

Ghotbi believes the foreign players "will add a lot of quality" once they arrive.

The goal, he said, will be "trying to get our players integrated. We have a lot of new players, also a lot of veteran players who have not arrived yet."

"The key words for us [will be] patience and composure."

VFC defender Kunle Dada-Luke also took questions, predicting the Calgary game will be a hard slog.

"It's going to be a battle,"  Dada-Luke said, "we know it's going to be a grind."

Dada-Luke, 25, was signed by  the 91原创-based pro soccer team in March. He previously played four seasons with Pacific FC, playing a key role in the island club鈥檚 2021 championship run while making more than 100 appearances 

The new addition to the VFC roster described his reception by the team as "perfect" saying "they welcomed me with open arms."

The match between Vancouver and Cavalry will kick off at ATCO Field in Spruce Meadows, AB at 4 p.m. Friday, April 18.

Their next home game will see the Eagles host Pacific FC at Willoughby Community Park on Saturday, April 26 at 5 p.m.