Phillip Dos Santos could sense it from the moment his Valour FC troops returned to training this week.

There was a competitive intensity, an attention to detail – an edge, if you will – that reinforced the notion that ‘iron sharpens iron.’

Valour FC got some bodies back from the infirmary this week, and the return of veterans Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Brett Levis and Sean Rea, as well as Johnny Esparza provided a boost at the exact perfect time for a squad that has been depleted and is coming off last weekend’s crushing 2-1 loss to Cavalry FC.

“We have bodies now,” Dos Santos said in a conversation with valourfootball.club this week. “We have Brett (Levis) back being an option, Sean Rea back in, AJB being an option and you get (Walter) Ponce with an additional week of training. And what this brings – this blood – it brings energy to the group.

“I think a draw (against Cavalry) would have been the right result for what they did and when you go to a place like Calgary and are able to play the way you played in a very mature game it gives you a sense that you’re not far off.

“Now with the bodies that have come in and the options we start to get, this team can be up there fighting with some of the best. That always brings a good energy to the group.”

Valour has battled injuries through the first six matches of the season – two wins, two draws and two losses – as well as Ponce not being available until last weekend with visa issues. Two more international players, midfielder Daniel Ascanio and another yet to be announced, have yet to arrive.

But with more options now available for Saturday’s match in Victoria against Pacific FC, Dos Santos also has some difficult lineup decisions to make. And some in-house competition for minutes can be healthy for a squad.

“This will be the first time this season I have to leave two guys behind by option off a trip,” he said. “We travel with 18 and have 20 ready to go. It also allows me in training to switch guys around. They feel it. If we have two segments of a certain exercise and I put one guy in and then I switch with another who is a direct competitor he knows I’m looking at both. That’s what I have a chance to do this week and it’s the first time I really have a chance to do that.”

Added centre back Rocco Romeo: “It’s good to have for the team spirit. It helps in working on team structure and creates more competition for the group. It’s a good thing.”

Valour has kicked away three possible points through six matches this season – giving up the equalizer in a season-opening 1-1 draw with FC Edmonton and then an extra-time goal in last week’s loss to Cavalry.

Dos Santos didn’t lambaste his team in Calgary, focussing instead on the miles still ahead in the CPL season.

“We have targets and we’re still en route,” he said. “We know, ballpark, how many points we would need to get into that top four and into a certain position. It’s an important game, because for us to say we want to be up there with the top teams, we actually have to go get results in those places. Every time we have a chance to go to a difficult field like Starlight (Pacific), or ATCO (Cavalry) or Tim Hortons (Forge FC) —  every away game – if we are able to respond and have a solid performance it shows how the team is progressing. We’re fully aware of that.

“I want the guys to have an urgency of not giving points away. So, now it’s three points that we’ve lost in the last minutes of the match – one point on the weekend and two more that we would have secured (after surrendering a late goal in a 1-1) in Edmonton. Those are points we need to gain somewhere else and that might be the three points we gain on the weekend.”

Pacific FC has become a measuring-stick opponent for all CPL teams. With five wins and two draws against just one loss in eight matches, the defending champs are still the elite – despite personnel changes and the departure of head coach Pa-Modou Kah to North Texas SC of MLS Next Pro.

Still for Valour this weekend is more about what they do, than fretting over who might be wearing enemy colours.

“It’s always been about us. We’re a team that doesn’t fear anyone,” said Romeo. “We know we’re a team that never stops, never gives up and always gives teams a fight. We’re preparing to work, like we always do.”