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Thu, Mar

UK-born Bostock among possible T&T newcomers.
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Former England youth international John Bostock could be among a possible influx of new European and North American based talent added to the Soca Warriors squad ahead of the kick-off of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers for Russia 2018, which begins on November 13.

On the weekend, the 64th world ranked Soca Warriors, given a bye in the first three rounds along with powerhouse and 34th ranked USA was drawn in Group C along with 105th ranked Guatemala or 107th Antigua & Barbuda, and 135th ranked Aruba or 115th St Vincent and The Grenadines.

And following yet another impressive Concacaf Gold Cup in then USA, where T&T defeated Guatemala (3-1) and Cuba (2-0) and battled to an entertaining 4-4 draw with eventual champions Mexico to top Pool C before a 6-5 sudden-death penalty-kicks loss to Panama after a 1-1 draw, coach Hart, who also led T&T to the quarters in 2013 before a 1-0 loss to Mexico has now set his sights on World Cup qualification and bolstering his squad.

Top of the list is 23-year-old OH Leuven midfielder Bostock who has an English passport, but his father is from T&T and his mother from Scotland.

In a recent interview in Belgium's Sport/Voetbal Magazine, Bostock was quoted as: “Since I came to the surface again at Antwerp, T&T national team has sounded me out a few times.

Soca Warriors duo Khaleem Hyland (ex-Genk) and Sheldon Bateau (KV Mechelen) also ply their trade in Belgium, but Bostock noted that he had not spoken with them about a possible selection and hopes to make a name for himself first in the Belgium Jupiler Pro League.

He said, “I am also not rushed to make a decision, let me first try to put my stamp print in the Jupiler Pro League.”

Bostock, who grew up in South London, won promotion with OH Leuven in Belgium and is enjoying football after struggling to make the breakthrough at Tottenham.

He is also still being monitored by England as a recent report stated that while the England Under-21 team were in action this summer, Bostock is not among them.

It added, “The man who captained the Under-17s and scored a stunner in a European Championship semi-final for the U19s, is still eligible for the England Under-21 squad, but coach Gareth Southgate was unlikely to be aware of that fact given that Bostock himself didn’t know. “I wasn’t aware of that actually,” he says. “I’m still young!”

Described as a beautiful footballer with a wand of a left foot, Bostock wasn’t quite the face that launched 1,000 ships but Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan was famously prepared to go to war when the teenager jumped to Tottenham for an initial fee of £700k decided by tribunal. Such was his frustration, Jordan threatened to dismantle Palace’s youth system in response.

Bostock made a high-profile switch to Tottenham aged 16 years old and included loan spells at Brentford, Hull, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon and Toronto FC, but Bostock never played more than 11 games for any one of them while Andros Townsend and Harry Kane endured similarly nomadic journeys before finding their feet.

He was contacted by former Holland international to move out to Antwerp and since then he has not regretted the move.

A good season at Royal Antwerp was followed by a move to second division rivals OH Leuven and the 2014/15 season brought 12 goals and promotion via the play-offs.

So highly rated was Bostock that he featured in an England youth midfield which included Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere and Swansea City’s Jonjo Shelvey.

Contacted for comment on whether or not Bostock was being sought after to represent T&T as was the case in 2013 by then interim national coach Hutson “Barber” Charles, Hart said, “Yes. We are having some discussions concerning making a call to Bostock and a few other players who can represent T&T.”

“At the moment there is nothing concrete to confirm about any of the players, as they are still weighing their options, so its an ongoing process and one which we hope to conclude in the not too distant future.”

Another source close to the situation noted that a major concern for the targeted players is the ongoing feud between the T&T Football Association and the Ministry of Sports’ Minister, Brent Sancho, as well as the long-term planning of the association.

“Some of the targeted players are all aware of the current state of affairs with our football, with regards to funding, preparations and organisation and once we don’t have our house in order, they will not want to make themselves available to us,” added the source.

Looking ahead to the national’s team build up to the World Cup qualifiers which will include a friendly international against Mexico in Salt Lake City, USA, in September, Hart said he will once again be faced with a difficult situation of not having many overseas players to work with while the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League which begins in the first week of August will also pose a problem.

“We have a situation now where most of the overseas players are either into their seasons already or in the midst of pre-season and locally, we have most of the guys getting ready to play in the Concacaf Champions League.

“You have to remember that most of the locally based players come from the two local clubs in the Concacaf Champions League, Central FC and W Connection, and during the CCL, it will be tough to have them at my disposal.”

“But hopefully we will be able to put the guys together at the end of August, and start our World Cup qualification preparation,” ended Hart.