The heat will be on — literally and figuratively — when Atlanta United play at the Columbus Crew on Wednesday.

With Ohio’s capital city enduring a sweltering stretch like much of the country, the Crew (8-3-7, 31 points) have been adapting to heat indexes in the low 100s by training in the early afternoon and following a plan conceived by their performance staff that includes hot baths.

“We try to maximize our chance to be good, so we identify a few players that we know have an issue with the heat,” Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. “What we do is, after the practice, they have a protocol to do with the hot bath and in this kind of environment to help them to gain the margin that we can gain.”

While Atlanta United (4-9-5, 17 points) play indoors, they are used to training in oppressive weather. That’s not to be confused with the heat that’s on the team to end a two-match losing streak and improve an 0-6-2 away mark, which has dropped the Five Stripes to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

“We have to push that fantastic boat, Atlanta United, that we are a part of forward,” Atlanta coach Ronny Deila said. “It’s a big, big ship, and you need everybody on board, and we have to go in the same direction.

“This is the culture and I’m here to change things — and I will. Everything is about performing. Everything is about, in the end, winning.”

Neither team played last weekend, and Deila feels veteran forward Miguel Almiron (three goals, three assists) will benefit from the break.

Unfortunately for the Crew, time away hasn’t healed all injuries and goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and defenders Malte Amundsen and Rudy Camacho will be unavailable. Also, midfielder/defender Max Arfsten is with the U.S. national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Atlanta will try to take advantage.

“It’s one of the best teams offensively because they have a lot of guys who can create something from nothing,” Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko said. “We expect a hard game.”

–Field Level Media