Midfielder Carlos Edwards has been coming on well in training over the last few day and may just make a comeback from injury when Luton Town faces Southampton in English Championship Division match on Tuesday.
This gives some hope to National Team head coach Leo Beenhakker on the chances of having Edwards in the squad to face the United States in next week’s Wednesday’s 2006 World Cup qualifier in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Edwards was previously listed as a definitely out of the match after missing the entire 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign and then returning to Luton to realize he was still not able to make his debut in preseason for them.
But his agent Mike Berry confirmed on Monday that the former Wrexham star has done remarkably well on the weekend and is in the 22-man squad for Tuesday’s League encounter. Striker Stern John meatime, will be in action as Coventry City meet Millwall on the same day.
“Carlos still is not at his best with the injury but he has come on very well over the last couple days and it is now possible that he could be in the Luton squad to face Southampton,” Berry told TTFF Media. “It’s good news for the club and Carlos and hopefully it will turn out to be the same for Trinidad and Tobago.”
Beenhakker is expected to name his squad for the match over the next 48 hours with the team scheduled at the end of the week for Connecticut. One of the latest additions to Beenhakker’s watch list has been US-based pro Scott Sealy. The promising striker scored a winner in the 73rd minute as his Kansas City Wizards overcame Avery John’s New England Revolution 2-1 in the MLS on Saturday night. Sealy played for 77 minutes while John played the full 90 for New England.
“It’s the final week before the match against the United States so obviously we are aiming to get everything together for the five days across there where we will have the final team together. Some of the players are coming off their preseasons and have already started their seasons while others are well into their seasons so we can now see how things go from here,” Beenhakker told TTFF Media. “The team has not been together since the Gold Cup due to the fact that the layers have been with their clubs but this not something we will use as an excuse. There’s a match for us to play next week and we will go all out for it.”
Also doing well on his debut since returning to West Ham was goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. The big man came off the bench in West Ham’s friendly with Osasuna at Upton Park on Saturday. He replaced first choice goalie Roy Carroll with 15 minutes remaining but then found himself in a penalty shootout in which he made two splendid saves even though his side lost 8-7.
It was a good feeling," Hislop said. "I've been away for a few years, but it was nice to get a good reception from the crowd when I came on. My aim is to make sure I'm at my best in training and if I'm not in the team then to push as hard as I can to get there. That way, even if I don't play a game this season, I'll know that I've done all I can to get a place in the first-team.”