Canadian coach Stephen Hart hopes a rash of injuries will not derail what has been a coming-out party for Canada at the Gold Cup.

After winning Group A with a 2-0-1 record, Canada will try to reach the tournament semi-finals for the second-straight time under Hart when the team hosts Group B runner-up Honduras on July 18 in Philadelphia.

"Yes we do (have a lot of injuries)," Hart told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday. "I am going to have to wait on the medical staff. We have quite a few injuries but the good sign is that they all participated in some light training on Monday."

Due to tactical reasons ahead of the Honduras match, Hart did not name the injured players but in the 2-2 draw with Costa Rica on Friday captain Paul Stalteri, Julian De Guzman, Ali Gerba, Mike Klukowski, Dejan Jakovic and Josh Simpson all began the match on the bench. Jakovic was the only player confirmed to be injured while Stalteri, De Guzman and Klukowski had collected yellow card cautions during the first two matches.

"I had no choice," Hart said after the final group match. "If any of the players were carded they would have been out of the quarterfinals. And we had injuries. I had no choice."

The Canadian men's national team surprised many by winning Group A, especially considering the team underachieved in failing to qualify for South Africa 2010 last summer/fall. But Hart is not about to look past Honduras, a team that beat Canada twice during the dismal qualifying run.

"We have to be aware of the threat that Honduras post to us," Hart said of the Saturday opponent. "But I think it is more important that we establish the way we want to play and gain confidence within that. I want everyone to play to their strengths."

Honduras finished second to the United States in Group B but enter the quarter-finals on the heels of a 4-0 thrashing of Grenada.

Hart has yet to lose in five games since replacing Dale Mitchell back in April of this year. For Hart it is his second spell as interim, and no plans to keep the coach beyond the Gold Cup have been discussed.

"I don't want to think about not getting the result on Saturday," Hart said of his future as Canadian coach. "I am trying to keep those thoughts out of my head until the point when I can sit down and give it some thought. I want to hear what the people who will be a part of the future have to say, then I can give it some more serious consideration."

Hart hopes the week in between games will allow his team to gel further after coming together quickly before the opening match on July 6.

"I don't know if we can actually say we are a favourite," Hart said when asked of the success. "I think things fell in place a lot quicker than we anticipated and that is all a credit to the players' work ethic and concentration throughout the training and as the games went on.

"We have played progressively better and got stronger," Hart said of the first three matches. "And now we are starting to find a rhythm."

At the Gold Cup 2007 Canada defeated Guatemala in the quarter-finals before losing to the U.S. on a controversial call in the semi-finals. In 2000, Canada surprised everyone by winning the tournament.

Rogers Sportsnet will broadcast Canada’s quarter-final match this Saturday, July 18 from the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada’s match will broadcast live on all four Sportsnet channels at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The Canada-Honduras match is the first of four quarter-final matches at this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.