FRISCO, Texas — With his team finishing just short of the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman realizes his roster needs just a few tweaks to be where he wants it. However, the FCD coach knows his club is in a great position with the fifth and sixth picks overall in Thursday’s 2010 MLS SuperDraft.

The recent signing of Ghanaian defender Aziz Ansah, who can play several positions in the back as well as holding midfield, has changed Hyndman’s strategy a bit.

“I think Aziz is a player that I like a lot because he can play right-side fullback,” the FCD coach said. “He can play left-side fullback. He can play center back and he can play defensive midfield. He’s really a defensive-minded player that has the athleticism and experience to play any position in the back. Right now, we think he could be our starting right back or center back and so forth. That affects us a little bit. We’re also in the draft looking at players that will be future players for us, whether it’s starting right now or eventually going in and moving other players into other positions.”

One area that Hyndman has not yet addressed over the offseason is the lack of depth up top. There are no viable options behind 2009 Budweiser Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham except for youngster Brek Shea, who made big strides last year but hasn’t yet developed into a consistent offensive threat.

The FCD coach doesn’t see any forwards in the draft who could step in right away and help his club in that respect.

“No, not really. I think there are a couple of really good players, one up front,” Hyndman said. “As you would expect, he’s a Generation adidas player and a little bit raw. He’s got some great upside but to step in right now, I don’t know.”

And getting a plan B for Cunningham remains a top priority.

“One of the things that we’ve always got to be concerned about is what if something happens to Jeff Cunningham or if he gets called up to the national team. We don’t really have a second-tier striker that can stretch opponents,” Hyndman said. “That’s obviously a concern for us. You can get a very young player out there, like a Generation adidas player and the downside is all he can do is run. We’re still in the international market looking at players to come in and be that second striker for us or potentially that wide player for us. They wouldn’t necessarily have to come out of the draft.”

FCD is also looking to add depth in the central midfield.

“I think we’re also looking at a holding midfielder. We have Daniel (Hernandez) coming back and that’s a good sign for us, but we also need somebody there in case he gets injured so we don’t have to put Dax (McCarty) back there,” Hyndman said. “I think another solid defender would fill our needs. I don’t think we need attacking midfielders. I don’t think we need flank players. I think what we need is a striker, holding midfielder or defender.”

Last season, FCD had six Generation adidas players on their roster. Through a series of in-season personnel moves, Hyndman made his roster a bit older by bringing in more veteran players for the stretch run.

“When evaluating our team this year, half of our team was under 23. So, 12 of our players are under 23 years of age,” he said. “But we picked up some players late like an Ugo (Ihemelu), a Heath Pearce and then we picked up a Jair (Benitez), Atiba (Harris), all those experienced players. Now we’ve got Aziz and that’s another experienced player. So I think we have to be careful of having too many Generation adidas players, but the draft right now, there are some seniors that are 23 years old or you can go with young players with great potential that are under 20. It’s something that we are dealing with right now.”

Compared to the 2009 draft, which was his first as FCD’s head coach, Hyndman sees some big differences in this year’s talent pool.

“I think this year’s draft is a little bit different from last year’s draft. In this year’s draft, there is definitely more talent in this Generation adidas group than the senior group,” he said. “The problem you run into is the Generation adidas group is pretty young and we’re a team that’s young anyway.”

One player who will be back in 2010 is central attacking midfielder David Ferreira, who had eight goals and seven assists last year to earn consideration for MLS top newcomer honors. Ferreira was with FCD on loan last year from South American partner Clube Atletico Paranaense and was seeking a new contract.

“I think there will be an announcement coming up in the next couple of days or maybe even tomorrow,” Hyndman said.

FCD is also progressing in their search for a technical director.

“We’ve interviewed some people, some phone interviews,” the FCD coach said.” We’re getting closer to that. I think it’s such an important position for us that we don’t want to pressure ourselves into taking somebody just because we want to fill the hole or the space.”

Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com.