Chad Barrett, left, believes that if he'd made good on a few more close calls, Toronto FC would be headed for the playoffs. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Chad Barrett has found his scoring touch, or so it would seem.

The 23-year-old forward from Oregon has scored four goals in 10 appearances for Toronto FC since joining the Canadian club in a trade with the Chicago Fire in late July. Only Danny Dichio, with five goals in 20 games, has scored more often for Toronto this season.

Barrett is coming off his best outing in a Toronto uniform, having scored twice to help lift the team to an impressive 3-1 road win over the New York Red Bulls last Saturday, only the fourth victory away from home for Toronto since it joined Major League Soccer in 2007.

Barrett should be feeling pretty good about himself, but instead, he still thinks about the handful of glorious scoring chances he failed to convert in his first few games for Toronto. Had he buried them at the time, Barrett believes, Toronto might not be fighting for its playoff life this late in the regular season.

"I can't really say I've found [my scoring touch] yet," Barrett told CBCSports.ca on Thursday. "I had two pretty easy chances against New York, ones that I'm supposed to finish, and I did.

"But those chances that I missed earlier in the season are still haunting us. Maybe we could be two points higher in the standings from where we are right now and have won games instead of settling for draws."

Victory against Dallas could get Toronto closer to playoff berth

With only three games left on the schedule, Toronto sits three points out of a playoff berth and needs to keep winning games to have a chance to qualify for the post-season.

Barrett admitted his confidence is high after his two-goal performance against New York, but he also said he has to continue to find the back of the net as Toronto tries to claw its way into the playoffs.

"I have to keep it going for the three games left in the season," Barrett said.

With just two wins in their last 15 games and with several teams ahead of them vying for that final playoff wild card spot, Toronto's chances of making the post-season look pretty bleak.

But Barrett believes a victory in Texas Saturday against FC Dallas (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 8:30 p.m. ET) would put Toronto in a prime position to scoop up a playoff berth.

"We got a huge win in New York that boosted our confidence as a team, and we're looking to get back in there. If we get the win against Dallas, I think our [playoff] chances will be very good," Barrett said.

Since coming to Toronto, Barrett has managed to last the full 90 minutes in only two of the 10 games he's played in because of a chronic cramping problem that he's suffered since his tenure with Chicago.

It's an ongoing problem for Barrett, but he insists he's doing everything he can to find a way to last an entire game, as opposed to be substituted out late in the second half, which has been the norm.

"The cramping is still a bit of an issue," Barrett admitted. "I'm still trying to figure it, trying to figure out the right diet.

"You're still getting the best out of me for 70 or 75 minutes, and hopefully in that span of time, I can get a couple of goals before going off."