National senior team coach Leo Beenhakker will begin his final week of preparations before Saturday’s clash with Panama with a question mark over the fitness of Scottish-based defender Brent Sancho.
The dreadlocks defender suffered a pull hamstring in Friday’s friendly against Bermuda and following observation and treatment from Team Doctor Terrance Babwah, it is likely that Sancho could risk further damage if he attempts to play through Saturday’s match against Panama which is scheduled for the Hasely Crawford Stadium at 6:30pm.
“It’s a touch and go situation at the moment and to be honest it has me a bit uneasy because Saturday’s game is probably the biggest one of the campaign for us and I definitely want to be part of it,” Sancho told TTFF Media.
There was better news for midfielder Brent Rahim who went off the pitch with an ankle injury. Following treatment from Babwah it was determined that he suffered bruised ligaments but will be able to commence training ahead of Saturday’s game.
“It looks a lot better for me at this time. After Friday’s game I was in a lot of pain and it got worse on Saturday morning but now it’s eased up. The injury isn’t as serious as I thought and I should be able to pull it off in training this week,” Rahim said.
Meantime, US-based defender Avery John got in a full 90 minutes for New England Revolution in their 0-0 draw with Colorado Rapids on Saturday. The experienced former Irish-based pro told reporters in the US that he was confident of T&T’s chances in the remaining qualifiers starting with the Panama affair.
“It was a good experience working under a new coach,'' John said. “Even though we lost 1-0, we dominated the game against the club champion of Peru. It was a good experience getting everyone back. He wants to see everyone. So he didn't have Stern (John) play. Dwight (Yorke) played just 45 minutes. It was kind of a mixed team, but overall the performance was good. Everybody was sharper as we try to get ready for the Panama game,” John said.
Real Salt Lake duo Leslie Fitzpatrick and Marlon Rojas both started in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Chicago Fire and joined the local squad on Sunday ahead of Monday’s session at the Larry Gomes Stadium.
One man who is raring to be on top of his game for the “Warriors” is goalie Clayton Ince. Ince has been joined by Dundee goalie Kelvin Jack and is prepared to dive the full length to ensure the “Warriors” come away with something to show from the upcoming matches with Panama and Mexico.
“As a goalkeeper you have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that your team doesn’t lose and so far I think the importance of what we are trying to achieve has been well received by everyone in the team and the coach has played a vital part in this. But we too as professionals know it is our duty to rise to the call. At the moment I know how important it is for me to be solid standing in that goal and Kelvin knows too that he can be called upon at anytime. Whoever is in goal, we both intend to stop the opposition at all costs,” Ince added.