Chicago Fire centre-back CJ Brown admitted he and his defensive teammates put in a poor performance as the side was beaten 4-1 by Toronto FC at BMO Field on the weekend.

During the week, Brown told mlsnet.com that the Fire defence would have to improve on Saturday's showing but at least they could work on the areas they were deficient in.

"It was a very bad day for our back four," Brown said. "The communication wasn't very good, the organization wasn't very good, and our 1 v 1 defending wasn't good.

"It was everything: from us stepping at the wrong time, to not man marking at the right times, and then losing our marks in crucial points. There's not one thing you can pinpoint.

"We went in the second half with intentions of pushing the game," added Brown. "[But] when we push it doesn't mean our back line needs to get involved, we just need to stay tight to marks and I lost that. I don't know how the other guys felt, but I felt like I had to push and that got me out of sorts and guys were just running behind us. It was just a bad day for the defenders."

The Fire get the chance to redeem themselves when they take on the Kansas City Wizards away this Saturday.