LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As San Antonio FC’s loss to Colorado Switchbacks FC last weekend proved, there’s an inevitability in defeat during a long regular season campaign.

For Louisville City FC, though, it wasn’t the loss itself, but the manner of its defeat to the Harrisburg City Islanders last Saturday night that was jarring, and has seen the team bring added focus ahead of a big game with Ottawa Fury FC on Saturday night at Slugger Field.

"I mean, everybody's attitude in training this week has been working harder than we have before,” said defender Oscar Jimenez on Thursday. “That was a tough loss for us. It's not like us to do that, to get out-worked in games, so just coming out harder this week has been our focus.”

Going by the wider numbers, Louisville held an edge in possession and was even in total shots with the City Islanders. Where the side came up short was in the attacking third, though, as it completed fewer than 60 percent of its passes in the Harrisburg half, and finished with only three shots on target, when it had averaged 5.5 shots on goal per game previously.

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The loss allowed the gap between City and the Eastern Conference-leading Charleston Battery to expand to six points, and put the pressure on as an Ottawa side that sits in the top five visits. Louisville Head Coach James O’Connor has been pleased with what he’s seen in terms of reaction from this squad.

“Throughout the course of the season, something like that will happen,” said O’Connor. “It's about how you react and cope with it. That's something we've spoken about. Control what you can control. We can't control what happened on Saturday. We can control how we train after the game. For us, it's always about focusing on the next game.”

Ottawa got a big boost late in its last outing, as Jamar Dixon scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to earn a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls II in a game that appeared to have slipped out of its grasp at TD Place. Fury FC’s size and ability to take advantage of set pieces will test Louisville’s defense, which still stands as the stingiest in the Eastern Conference with only 10 goals conceded in 13 games.

"Yeah, they're a physical team,” said Louisville forward Luke Spencer. “They've got a lot of size. We actually got to see them during preseason at IMG [Academy]. We got to see the physicality they play with. They have a lot of strength, so it'll be important to play well on set pieces.”

With Louisville looking to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time since it fell to Orlando City B on July 30, 2016 – which coincidentally also marked the last time the side lost at Slugger Field – bringing the right energy early is at the forefront of the squad’s thoughts.

“We don't necessarily get out-worked usually in games and so for that to happen to us was kind of gut wrenching for us,” said Jimenez. “I mean, everybody's upset, but at the same time looking to the next game because we're willing to show what we've got.”