With Saturday night’s home showdown against St. Louis looming, fans can expect a shuffled-up Colorado Springs Switchbacks lineup for Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup road contest.

And not all the changes for the 8:30 p.m. game at United Soccer League rival Arizona United are by choice for coach Steve Trittschuh. Injuries have sapped the team’s depth.

“I hate looking ahead but Saturday’s game is massive,” said Trittschuh, who will miss the third-round game in Peoria, Ariz., to attend his daughter’s graduation.

Assistant Wolde Harris will lead the team against Arizona United, which has gone 0-2-3 since mid-April, and was swept in their USL season series by Colorado Springs in mid-May.

“They are kind of struggling,” Trittschuh said. “We need to get off to a good start against them. Some guys will get a shot at starting so we will see how things stand after the first half.”

The winner advances to the fourth round at the Colorado Rapids on June 15. But with the USL regular season almost a third complete, playoff positioning is more on Trittschuh’s mind.

Third-place Colorado Springs (6-2-1) only plays fourth-place St. Louis (4-3-4) twice this season, making winning at home important for future tiebreakers. A win would give the Switchbacks a four-point cushion over St. Louis with two games in hand.

St. Louis is paced by forward Irvin Herrera (12 points, six goals), who tallied four in a 5-2 win over at Tulsa on May 21. St. Louis will be playing its fifth game in 15 days when it visits high-altitude Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Switchbacks defender Josh Phillips will remain “out for some time” after injuring his shoulder during a goal celebration while defender Nate Robinson continues to recover from an early season knee injury.

JJ Greer, who ably stepped in for Phillips in last weekend’s home tie, will miss Wednesday’s game to celebrate the birth of his child Monday. Greer will be back for Saturday’s USL contest, Trittschuh added.

The injuries, forward Saeed Robinson’s continuing USL suspension, and the grind of a long season has Trittschuh looking to bring in some help from outside the team, although there is no deal imminent.

In the interim, Wednesday provides the Switchbacks’ reserves a chance to show what they can do.

“It’s time for the other guys to step up,” Trittschuh said. “We are playing decent. But if you want to be a top team you need to create some cushion between yourselves and the lower half (of the conference). This Saturday’s isn’t a must-win but we need to get points at home. We won three road games so far which is good, but we cannot drop (two) points at home like we did (last weekend).”

Wednesday’s road game will not be video streamed, Arizona United announced Monday. That game is at 8:30 p.m. Colorado Springs time because Arizona does not observe daylight saving time.