The Portland Timbers must "grow up" if they are to make a success of their MLS campaign, so says Phil Neville.

Portland lost 1-0 to Orlando City last time out, and will aim to get back to winning ways when they take on the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday.

The Timbers had close to 60% possession against Orlando, yet managed just seven shots and generated chances worth only 0.35 expected goals (xG).

It left Neville wanting a drastic improvement in his team's final-third output.

He said: "The first half was nowhere near good enough, from three or four players. Players who we see as our key players were nowhere near their level – they didn’t give the team any composure. We looked like we were waiting to go 3-0 or 4-0 down.

"The second half, I was proud of the effort, proud of the fight. But when there’s five, 10 minutes to go and you’re crossing in balls but there’s seven players not in the box, that for me is a team that’s still naïve, still wants to play with the ball.

"We showed a bit of inexperience, against a team that has experience.

"It was a great learning experience for the young players we have – they’re giving everything they’ve got, they’re a match for any team in MLS but I’m afraid at this moment in time we’ve got to grow up a little bit more than we are doing.

"We’ve got to acknowledge it’s not going to be perfect all the time, we’ve got to have more ruthlessness, particularly the front four or five players.

"We’ve got to get into the box to score, we can’t just play five-a-side football when we get into the final third. That’s the evolution now for the team to be successful."

Portland sit sixth in the Western Conference, one point and one place above the Rapids, who have won their last two games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Portland Timbers - Antony

Antony has scored four goals in four career regular-season meetings with the Rapids, including scoring three times in two meetings at Providence Park.

The only Timbers player to score in three straight home matches against Colorado was Diego Valeri from 2017 to 2019.

Colorado Rapids - Darren Yapi

Yapi scored his third goal in his last eight appearances on Saturday, netting the lone goal in Colorado’s 1-0 win over St. Louis City SC.

He had scored only twice in his first 65 regular-season games prior to this recent hot streak, which he will be determined to continue as the Rapids look to surge up the standings.

MATCH PREDICTION: PORTLAND WIN

After winning their first two away matches of the season, Colorado have taken just one point from its last four on the road (D1 L3).

The two wins to start the season are the Rapids’ only victories in their last 12 away matches dating back to last September (D2 L8).

Portland have won only three of their last 10 home matches in all competitions (D4 L3) after winning 10 of its previous 12 at home immediately before this run.

However, the Timbers are unbeaten in their last six at Providence Park (W3 D3) after opening the season with a loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Portland have, though, won 12 of their last 15 home matches against Colorado in all competitions (D2 L1), including the last four in a row. The Timbers have outscored the Rapids, 14-3, over the current four-match run, scoring at least three times in each match.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Portland Timbers - 55.4%

Colorado Rapids - 21.6%

Draw - 23%