THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- Toronto FC coach John Carver preached the glass-half-full theory to his team after a lacklustre performance in a 0-0 tie against the struggling Kansas City Wizards on Saturday at BMO Field.

When the Major League Soccer season comes to a close, Carver believes the point earned from the draw against the Eastern Conference's worst team might come in handy.

"Sometimes you have a bad day at the office and things don't come through for you," Carver said after Kansas City snapped Toronto's three-game home winning streak. "Be grateful for small mercies and I'm grateful for the point."

While Toronto (6-4-3) remains unbeaten at home (5-0-3) this season, Kansas City (3-5-4) had more reasons to smile after preserving a tie before a crowd of 20,293. The Wizards are winless in their past seven and haven't scored in three games this month, but they gave third-place Toronto a significant scare.

"It is (disappointing) in a way, but then again if you don't play well in a game and you come away with a point, it's a bonus," Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson said. "We've got to look at it that we didn't play as well as we could have but we got something out of the game."

It appeared that Toronto was going to get more as the crowd exploded when Danny Dichio tapped a free kick from Laurent Robert past Wizards goalie Kevin Hartman in injury time. But the play was ruled offside, which seemed fair after a close examination. The linesman told Dichio that he was a half-yard offside.

"I was delighted and disappointed within five seconds," Dichio said.

It could have turned out much worse for Toronto. The Wizards dominated play for much of the first half and if not for some bad aim by Scott Sealy with his feet and his head on two good chances in the opening 12 minutes, they might have walked away with a much-needed victory.

Later, one-time Argentine World Cup star Claudio Lopez sent a corner kick through the crease and past Toronto goalie Brian Edwards, but Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad couldn't find a way to put the ball into the net.

The momentum started to change when Carver made three substitutions before the second half was 15 minutes old, inserting internationals Maurice Edu (United States), Amado Guevara (Honduras) and Jim Brennan (Canada) for Kevin Harmse, Jeff Cunningham and Todd Dunivant, respectively.

Guevara, playing for Toronto for the first time in a month, was a major force in the final third of the game. He had an outstanding chance turned aside when Hartman leaped way up to knock away a Guevara blast that was headed for the upper portion of the net.

Carver opted to use the same starting lineup he employed in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids last week, despite the return of five internationals - the others were goalie Greg Sutton (Canada) and defender Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica).

"I just made that decision to play that team and I knew what I had on the bench to bring in," Carver said. "That's probably the most expensive bench in MLS. But let's not forget I have to do without those players again at some stage in just over a month or so, so I've got to rely on the guys we have got on the football club."

Still, Carver said after the game the team needs a player who "can get the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis."

He added the team hopes to make more additions in the coming weeks. The result Saturday shows that Toronto needs to make improvements if it hopes to compete with the league's elite teams.

"We don't have the divine right to turn up and win games at BMO," Dichio said. "We know it's a hard place to come but we've also got to perform."

Notes: Carver took a shot at the Canadian Soccer Association for its use of Sutton, who backed up Pat Onstad in a 4-1 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines Friday in Montreal. Sutton has played just one of four games with the national team this month. "That disappoints me ... I think he's Canada's No. 1," Carver said. "I've said that, but I'm not the national team manager and I don't (care) about that in all fairness because this is my responsibility, this is my team and this is who pays me." ... Toronto FC will take a 1-4 road record into New England to face the Eastern Conference-leading Revolution next Saturday. Toronto returns home on Canada Day for a CONCACAF Champions League qualifying game against the Vancouver Whitecaps of the United Soccer Leagues ... Marshall will have to deal with being a visitor in his home stadium Aug. 20 when Canada plays host to Jamaica at BMO Field in the opening game of the next round of World Cup qualifying in the CONCACAF region. Canada also will have to deal with Guevara's Honduras team as well as perennial powerhouse Mexico.