New York City FC boss Nick Cushing rubbished rumours linking him with the vacant head coach position with Arsenal Women, confirming he would remain in the MLS next season.

Cushing previously spent seven years in charge of Manchester City in the Women's Super League between 2013 and 2020 and has been touted for a return to England with the Gunners after Jonas Eidevall's dismissal last month.

Despite the rumours circulating around his future after leading NYCFC into the postseason, Cushing was quick to deny reports, saying: "I can confirm that I will be back here next year."

The Pigeons travel to the TQL Stadium to face FC Cincinnati this weekend in an encounter that will decide who will advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals in the MLS playoffs.

Cushing encouraged his players to play their football and dig deep in their pursuit of a victory, adding his side can harness the momentum generated from their 3-1 win in Game 2.

"It's about trying to show our players how much our fans enjoy seeing that type of performance from our players," he said. "Not just the good football and the goals, but the guts and the fight and the desire to ensure that we are the team that goes through the next game right.

"The performance at Citi Field had everything. Not only did we play well and create chances, but the running numbers were excellent, as was the desire to make sure that we didn't give the second goal away.”

"We've got to make sure that we play the football that our fans deserve and that we know we can play, and in the difficult moments, you have to dig deep. We know who we are now. We've just got to make sure that we go prepared, and we deliver everything that we've got.”

Pat Noonan, meanwhile, noted that his side were unable to create clear-cut opportunities against NYCFC, which resulted in defeat last time out.

The Orange and Blue scored 58 goals in the regular season, with only the four sides who finished above them in the East netting more.

But despite their defeat in Game 2, Noonan is confident that his players will respond in their deciding fixture, not wanting to end their season just yet.

"We've created enough chances. These are playoff games. You're not going to score three, four, five goals a game. So sometimes one goal is going to have to be enough like we saw last week," Noonan said.

"I don't expect us to score at ease. That's just not how these games are played. But it was going to take a little bit more, and we just didn't finish some of those moments when it was 2-1 to level it in a better way or in a good enough way.

"I could see it in the locker room. The guys are going to move on from this pretty quickly. For a team that just lost a game, I think they recognise the good and the bad of the game to know they should feel confident going into Game 3.

"So at the moment, I don't think I need to say too much. I think they understand, and we'll just have good conversations about this game and what we think needs to improve when we go back home."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Cincinnati – Luca Orellano

Orellano scored Cincinnati's only goal in their Game 2 defeat to the Pigeons, notching his 13th goal in all competitions this term.

He is the seventh different player to score Cincinnati's last seven playoff goals dating back to last season's first round. Four of those seven scorers hail from Argentina.

NYCFC – Alonso Martinez

Martinez found the back of the net against Cincinnati in NYCFC's 3-1 win in Game 2, taking his tally to two goals in five appearances against the Orange and Blue.

Along with Santiago Rodriguez, either Martinez (nine) or his Uruguayan team-mate (five) have scored 14 of NYCFC's 21 goals in the regular season and playoffs since MLS returned from the Leagues Cup break in August.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN

Cincinnati's 3-1 defeat in Game 2 was the fifth time they conceded multiple goals in their last seven matches dating back to the end of the regular season.

They are winless when allowing multiple goals in that time (D1 L4) while winning both matches in which they held their opponent under two goals.

NYCFC have won only one of their last 14 away matches in all competitions dating back to late May (D6 L7). Overall, they have won just five out of 40 away matches in all competitions since the start of last season (D15 L20).

The Pigeons' win over Cincinnati last Saturday was their second win of the season over Noonan's side, both coming at home. Cincinnati have won their last five home matches against NYCFC in all competitions, though, including a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Cincinnati – 50%

Draw – 25.3%

NYCFC – 24.7%