ST. LOUIS, MO (May 21, 2010) – Steve Ralston is set to make his AC St. Louis debut Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park. Kick-off is set for 7:10 p.m. with live streaming available at www.ac-stlouis.com.

The matchup is a curious one between two clubs that have struggled to find their way into the win column consistently. The expansion AC St. Louis side enters with a 1-5-1 record, but has played progressively better over the last three games by posting a mark of 1-1-1. AC St. Louis earned an impressive road point at Portland last week when Mike Ambersley connected for a stoppage time equalizer. St. Louis has now scored in three straight matches as their offense gains confidence and begins to click.

FC Tampa Bay Rowdies enter this match with a record of 2-1-3 after six games. While Tampa Bay has only one loss, they also have just two wins, and are an unknown commodity as they come into St. Louis. The Rowdies have an impressive nine goals after six games, but have given up an eight. For comparisons sake AC St. Louis has conceded 11 goals after seven games, meaning fans should see some scoring on Saturday night.

The big news for AC St. Louis will be the debut of Steve Ralston, the club’s first ever official signing. Ralston is completely recovered from ACL surgery and is expected to play for some portion of the match. Ralston was introduced as the first AC St. Louis player on February 1 this year. He joins the club after a stellar MLS career that saw him become the all-time MLS leader in games played, assists, and minutes played.

St. Louis has not had much home cooking yet, and want get more for just over a month. Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay will only be the team’s third home game in eight matches. AC St. Louis will play two more road games following Saturday’s match, and will not have another home date until June 26. Seven of the team’s first ten games are on the road.

AC St. Louis has gotten slightly healthier in the past week. The injury report for this week includes just four players who are definitely out of the lineup. Zach Bauer, fractured foot, still has 2 to 4 weeks before his boot will come off. Elvir Kafedzic continues to rehab from a severe hematoma. Kafedzic suffered no structural damage following the injury behind his right knee on April 11, but is still a week or two away from returning. Christian Nzinga continues to recover from a hamstring strain, and Gilbert Pogosyan is sidelined with a knee issue that continues to be evaluated. Chris Salvaggione is questionable. The forward returned to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury to his patella, but is still not experiencing 100% strength in his knee.