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Week in and week out, there are certain names that pick themselves when head coach Chris Cummins fills out his Toronto FC team sheet. Injury absences aside, Dwayne De Rosario, Amado Guevara and Carl Robinson are never likely to find themselves on the bench at kickoff, and statistics certainly show why.

Maybe it’s time to add Daniele Salvatore Dichio to that list.

Better known to fans as Danny Dichio, he didn’t find the back of the net or even register a shot on Saturday, yet the English striker was still the most influential player on the pitch in TFC’s 3-1 win over the New England Revolution, and for an attack that fails to pull the trigger far too often, that is a stark revelation.

The tall forward spearheaded the front line in place of Pablo Vitti, still awaiting his first goal for the Reds, and had a hand in all three Toronto markers, directly assisting Guevara and De Rosario for the first two, before distracting Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis for Guevara’s second of the game.

“Within the system we play it’s a great role for Danny because he links the play ever so well,” Cummins said. “Now, for a big guy he’s got good feet and I just said to him to get amongst the two centre halves and link the play.”

That size and touch are a unique skill set among Toronto strikers. Chad Barrett, the usual starter up front, has neither the height nor the first touch of Dichio, while Vitti, also of the smaller size, though he can show sublime footwork at times, seems to lack the wherewithal to link play effectively.