Ronny Deila insisted he did not feel his job at Atlanta United was under threat despite the Five Stripes failing to win their last 10 MLS matches.

Deila has endured an indifferent tenure since being appointed last December, winning just five of the 29 matches he has overseen across all competitions (D10 L14).

Atlanta's recent run of form has seen them drop to 13th in the Eastern Conference, 17 points adrift of the playoffs with eight games of their season remaining.

Given his side's form, Deila's future at the club has been called into question, though the former Celtic boss believes his side are close to reaching their potential.

"It's always like that," Deila said. "You always want to win the games and that is my job. I understand that, but at the same time I have been in this business for 20 years.

"I don't focus on the wins and the results, I focus on how we are going to win. I have been in this situation before with many clubs that have been in pressured situations.

"But you need to go out there and make the best out of it. Every player, us as a team as well, if we do that then we give ourselves the best chance to try and do something.

"What I can say is that we are improving. We are a better team than what we were four months ago. It's just small details now before we are going to click together."

Deila will be hoping to get a much-needed result this weekend when they welcome Toronto FC to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with their opponents one place above them.

Toronto themselves have endured a difficult patch of late, going four games without a win, but have picked up points against high-flyers Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union.

And while Atlanta's current predicament offers a chance for Toronto to get back to winning ways, head coach Robin Fraser was not underestimating Deila's team.

"Teams go through phases like this," Fraser said. "I think about us here in 2018, lots of good players but things don't go right. A lot of injuries, they lose form and confidence.

"At the end of the day, we know they are a very talented team. I said this last time, things just happened really quickly, but we hope that they don't start clicking this week.

"Because when they do, they have more than enough talent to be at the top of the table versus where they are. I do not look at this as an easy game. No chance."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atlanta United – Alexey Miranchuk

Miranchuk has scored each of Atlanta's last three MLS goals, including the lone tally in a 3-1 defeat at Colorado on Saturday.

He is the only Five Stripes player to score a regular-season goal since Tristan Muyumba and Emmanuel Latte Lath on July 19.

Toronto FC – Jules-Anthony Vilsaint

Vilsaint endeared himself to the Toronto faithful after he came off the bench to score the equalising goal in his first career appearance for the club last week.

He is the first player to score on his Reds' MLS debut since CJ Sapong in 2023 while the last player to score in his first two Toronto appearances was Luke Moore in 2014.

MATCH PREDICTION: ATLANTA UNITED WIN

The Five Stripes have never lost a regular-season home match against Toronto (W4 D4). The Reds won their lone playoff visit to Atlanta, however, posting a 2-1 win in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

Atlanta are, however, winless in 10 straight regular-season matches (D5 L5) dating back to late May, the second time in club history the Five Stripes have recorded a double-digit winless run in league play (12 straight in 2021).

Toronto, meanwhile, have shown their powers of recovery, coming from behind to earn a point in each of their last two matches, doing so against Columbus and Philadelphia. They had totalled just two points from the 15 matches in which they trailed this season prior to that.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Atlanta United – 50.6%

Draw – 25%

Toronto FC – 24.4%