Shalrie Joseph was back in action for the New England Revolution after a six-week absence but could not lead his side to a win over Toronto FC.

The Revs went down 1-0 at Toronto's BMO Field because of Chad Barrett's 53rd minute goal and head coach Steve Nicol rued a lack of possession which caused his side to lose the contest.

"We didn't have enough possession,'' Nicol said. "We need to be so much better with the ball, that's why we lost. Inability to pass the ball to each other properly, that's why we lost. No problems with effort, commitment, all that stuff. But the fundamentals of the game are passing and controlling the ball, and we didn't do that. We need to get better, because if we don't we aren't going to win games.

"Just generally, we just have to be better, start to finish. If we had the ball 100 times, then we passed it properly 10 times - that's not a good ratio. You can be concentrating and be brave and when you're doing something, do it fully. Concentration, composure, yes, it's a whole host of things. Teams that win, that's what they do - they pass the ball well."