And when you are forced to take a break, you can't wait until you're able to play again.

Toronto FC will end a 16-day layoff Saturday by hosting the Columbus Crew (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 4 p.m. ET), looking to continue as one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer.

The Canadian club hasn't played since May 1, when it earned a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls to extend its franchise-record unbeaten streak to four games (three wins and a tie).

After a rough start to the season - the team lost its first two games by a combined score of 6-1 - Toronto rebounded by going unbeaten in its next four contests, so you can appreciate why the club didn't want to take a break in the middle of a hot streak.

"When you're on a roll ... and you have momentum, the last thing you want is to have a few weekends off," captain Jim Brennan told the team's official website.

"It's good for the body to heal, but I think it was a bit too much time to go without a game. But this week we've gotten back on track, worked hard and we'll be back in the swing of things on Saturday."

And a grudge match with the Crew awaits them.

Crew has changed somewhat

Columbus defeated Toronto 2-0 in the season opener on March 29, but the Crew will not be facing the same team it handily defeated at home close to two months ago.

Since that loss, veteran Greg Sutton has firmly established himself as the club's No. 1 goalkeeper (rookie Brian Edwards started the first game of the season) and Toronto has added quality players - English midfielder Rohan Ricketts, French winger Laurent Robert and Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara.

The results have been startling: a road win in Los Angeles (only the second in franchise history) and back-to-back shutout wins at home over Real Salt Lake and Kansas City before drawing New York.

Saturday's meeting is a big contest for both clubs.

Toronto is with Kansas City for fifth place in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference with 11 points (Toronto would be second with that point total in the Western Conference).

Columbus has won five games in a row and leads the East (and MLS) with 18 points, and can put a little more distance between itself and Toronto with a win on Saturday.

What's more, Columbus has owned Toronto since the Canadian club entered the league in 2007: Toronto is winless in four games against Columbus with three losses.

All of which hasn’t escaped the attention of Brennan and his teammates.

"It's more of a grudge match," said Brennan. "We want something out of this game. There's too many times we felt, even last year, we felt we should've beat them when we didn't. This time on Saturday we want nothing less than three points. Teams like Columbus, you don't want them pulling away too much. We want to keep them within distance."

Toronto hosts D.C. United next Wednesday in the first game of a home-and-home series. The clubs meet three days later in Washington.

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