Top players out but Hallgrimsson remains confident
Published:Saturday | June 1, 2024 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
A number of injured high-profile players will be missing from the Reggae Boyz squad for their opening 2026 Concacaf World Cup qualifying match against the Dominican Republic next Thursday at the National Stadium.
The injury list includes goalkeeper Andre Blake, who recently did a knee operation and will be out for over a month, Demarai Gray (collarbone), Ethan Pinnock (ankle), Joel Latibeaudiere (torn calf muscle) and Amari Bell (hamstring).
There has also been the late withdrawal of teenage sensation Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards, who was called back to the treatment room by Chelsea.
Nevertheless, coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said they have plans in place to mitigate situations like this, and he is confident they will put out a balanced team on Thursday despite the absentees.
‘We always want our strongest team. We have had pretty good consistency in selection and we wanted to use these World Cup matches as preparation for the Copa America.
“We wanted to use the same squad for this camp and the Copa but now some players are injured,” Hallgrimsson told The Gleaner
“Everybody knows about Andre Blake. Ethan Pinnock is injured but will be ready for the Copa America. He needed some treatment after the season. He pushed himself to help his team stay in the league and played the last eight games for Brentford.
“Demarai Gray broke his collarbone but will also be ready for Copa. Lattibeadiere is the same. We were hoping that he will be ready.
“The other is Amari Bell, who missed the last third of the season for Luton. We are hoping he will be ready. We were hoping to have him here training but Luton did not want to release him as yet from their medical team.
All the injured players, with the exception of Blake and Richards, will be available for the Copa America tournament.
“A few players, ‘Whisper’ (Richards), Blake and Leon Bailey will be in neither of the camps. But hopefully the other four will be ready for Copa America,” Hallgrimsson said.
FILLED BY LOCAL PLAYERS
He noted, however, that a lot of these slots will be filled by local players, with the likes of Kaheim Dixon, Devonte Campbell, Adrian Reid Jr and goalkeeper Shaquan Davis expected to be named to the 26-man squad.
“We had camps in Jamaica in January to March and played friendly games against Trinidad, to introduce those players to our way of playing, and our system and principles
“So it’s easy to pick them because they had a good season in the Premier League and they know the system and way of playing,” he said.
Despite the adjustments Hallgrimsson believes they have the depth and the quality to get by the Dominican Republic.
‘In this world nothing is perfect and you need to be ready for certain things, especially here in Jamaica, things change at the last minute all the time. So you know you will need a plan B and a plan C,” the Reggae Boyz head coach said.
SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Jahmali Waite, Shaquan Davis, Coney-Boyce Clarke, Jayden Hibbert. Defenders: Greg Leigh, John Bell, Richard King, DiShon Bernard, Damion Lowe, Michael Hector, Taylor Gray, Dexter Lembisika. Midfielders: Kevin Lambert, Kacey Palmer, Adrian Reid Jr, Alex Marshall, Karoy Anderson,
Bobby Reid, Daniel Johnson. Forwards: Renaldo Cephas, Deshawn Beckford, Kaheim Dixon, Corey Burke, Mickel Antonio, Shamar Nicholson, Devonte Campbell.