Soca Warriors coach Stephen Hart has called on his younger and less experienced players to step up to the plate and take advantage of the forced absence of some of his regular starters in tomorrow’s CONCACAF World Cup semi-final qualifier against St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Hart said while his injured players were vital to the team’s progress, he wants the other players to step up in their absence.
“Cordel Cato, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Jan-Michael Williams are all key players. So it’s a huge loss not to have them, but injuries are a part of football and we just have to do our best with whatever hand we are dealt. We now have to get on with the preparations and the others players will have to step up,” he said.
Hart said he is not taking his opponents lightly. “Their recent match with Martinique was out of the FIFA window and similarly to us against Grenada, they were without their top players. So I am not going to pay much attention to that match, but I have looked at all their matches in qualification so far and they are a very, very quick team and we cannot go there with the wrong mindset.”
T&T left for Grenada yesterday and Hart said the situation speaks for itself. “We want to get a result on the road and hopefully that result will be a win.”
Hart expects to meet a dry, hard, bumpy surface for the match which kicks off at 3.30 pm at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground. Both teams will meet again on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from 7 pm.
Hart said he was a bit concern with the venue. “When you play away from home, the main concern is not about the crowd, but always the pitch and whether we can adapt quickly to it or not. I am assuming with the type of weather conditions that we have been having, the surface is going to be very quick and dry, so the ball will be bouncy and we will have to play a shorter, quicker sort of control passing game.”
Asked if he was satisfied with how things have been coming along under new association president, David John-Williams, Hart replied, “I think the association is working as hard as possible to try and make things a reality.”