The absence of experienced Glasgow Rangers defender MArvin Andrews from Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala should not be a major worry for this country's senior footballers.
This is the opinion of head coach Bertille St Clair after he received confirmation of Andrews' knee injury on Tuesday as he took charge of the "Warriors" in their Fort Lauderdale training camp ahead of the second match of the final qualifying round. It's not certain whether the big defender will also miss the March 30 match against Costa Rica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
Added to Andrews' missing in action status, English-born stopper Ian Cox also turned unavailable after suffering a hamstring pull on the weekend which resulted in a late call for Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence who last appeared against Mexico last year and was unforgettably a regular member of the 2002 World Cup squad.
"Marvin has grown into becoming one of the more important players in the team and is now one of the recognised defenders in Scotland but I don't think his absence will have any major effect on the team," St Clair told TTFF Media on Tuesday. "Of course, there's always a concern when you are missing a key player, especially in defense, but we have guys who can step up to the call and this simply means that one of the other guys will now get a chance to take up that responsibility."
Over the past two days St Clair has focused on getting the players reacquainted with each other and the spirit on and off the pitch has been a lively one at the Sunrise Hilton. Training each day from 9am and then at 4pm along with the excellent facilities at the LA Fitness Center being part of the all-access package has been the story for the "Warriors".
"It's always important to ensure that the guys are comfortable together when you are preparing for a game and this goes on to have a positive effect on what takes place on the pitch. So far I think things have gone well and we should be able to get on even better as the match date gets closer," a focused looking Dwight Yorke said shortly before the training match with the Atlanta Silverbacks on Tuesday afternoon.
Some followers of the team from home and even those who have showed up at the team base in Ft Lauderdale questioned whether the overseas-based pros would actually report to camp on time and those here have seen the committment for themselves which has left St Clair a pleased team boss.
"I always advocate that if you are going to represent Trinidad and Tobago, then you have to do the things that the country deserves from you. As the coach I have stressed the importance of this and we have observed that each of the guys who have come on board have adapted quickly and have been doing the right things. Rules are made to be followed and you tend to gain once you follow it correctly," St Clair stressed.
"We are doing as much on the field to try and gel as a unit and we are working on getting as mentally prepared as we can for this game in Guatemala which is our forst match of the round away from our Stadium," he ended.