Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior men’s team payers were back on the training pitch on Ash Wednesday ahead of the March 20th International friendly against Wales at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.
Head Coach Dennis Lawrence will have just about nine sessions at home again before the squad assembles in Wrexham for the encounter and the former Everton assistant coach is expected to name his final squad next week prior.
Wales head coach Ryan Giggs will name his squad in nine days and a BBC Report stated he is considering calling up Rotherham midfielder Will Vaulks for his first Wales appearance.
Giggs was at the New York Stadium on Saturday as Vaulks impressed in Rotherham’s 3-2 win over Blackburn.Vaulks, 25, was born on the Wirral and played for Tranmere and Workington before joining Falkirk in 2013. Giggs is no stranger in bringing in new players out of the blue, with Anderlecht centre-back James Lawrence recently discovered to have Welsh roots.
One of the players in Lawrence’s current provisional squad is former Danish-based defender Radanfah Abu Bakr who spoke about the importance of the upcoming fixture ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup. Abu Bakr has played in the past two Gold Cups in 2013 and 2015.
“It’s always good to be back, coming off a bit a of a lay off. It’s good to be back out on the pitch again and playing among the boys. It’s been very intense so far and very physical,” Abu Bakr told TTFA Media on Wednesday.
“We have a big game to prepare for. It’s going to be massive test for us and a big challenge. We have been working hard in the sessions trying to get up to speed physically, mentally and tactically as well.
“We had the last couple days off but we’ve been working individually and when we come to the sessions it’s a huge collective effort to get the right mindset and tactics for the game coming up. It’s been very intense because that’s how it’s going to be gameday against a top quality opposition. But we’ve been focused on what he (Lawrence) has been trying to instill in us tactically and of course getting the right mentality when we play,” Abu Bakr continued.
The former Caledonia AIA player stressed that the Wales encounter is a critical one ahead of a hectic period of activities for the Senior Men’s Team with the Gold Cup approaching in June followed by the CONCACAF Nations League later in the year. Staying disciplined throughout the game will be the key to a good result against Giggs’ men.
“The most important thing will be us to stay disciplined throughout the game. Quite a few of our boys are in off season so that’s going to be a bit of a challenge which means we will have to stay very focused during the game, very disciplined tactically and work together as a team,”Abu Bakr stated.
SOURCE: ttfootball.org
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Bale almost had an instant impact as his shot struck the post, but ended the 4-1 defeat hobbling around the pitch.
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The former Tottenham player joined the action - with his side already two goals down on the night - to a less hostile reception than he received from Real fans on Saturday, which his agent described as "nothing short of a disgrace".
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