Spann, Jack in line to play against Santo Domingo

Trinidad and Tobago footballers will resume training tomorrow at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo with a few new players picked by Bertille St Clair. The return leg against the Dominican Republic is on Sunday at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. The newly called players include Croatia-based midfielder Silvio Spann and goalkeeper Kelvin Jack who is coming off a stint with English club Reading FC. Falkirk midfielder Brent Rahim may also rejoin the team shortly having recovered from a hamstring strain.

St Clair is maintaining his policy of trying to look at as much players possible who will be capable of adding depth to the team in their 2006 qualifying campaign. Also recalled to training are CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh midfielder Michael Celestine, former US-based player Marvin Oliver, Jerren Nixon, Nigel Pierre, Aurtis Whitley, US-based striker Cornell Glen and Scottish-based striker Jason Scotland. “More changes have to be made because we want to ensure that the team is well “St Clair said after reviewing the video of Sunday’s match on Monday night at the Intercontinental Hotel in Santo Domingo.

“We have a win on our backs and we hope to build on this. The preparation before the match  against Scotland and others was great for us. But some of the things did not stick in the heads of our players but things will turn around because we must get through this,” said St Clair. He added that he is hopeful of continuous training once the team’s passage to the semi-final round is booked and wants the team to also play a few more warm-up internationals.

“We need to have a pool of players together right through and I am hoping maybe the Government can step in somewhere along the way from here because it is important we keep the team together and have them well prepared for the rest of the campaign,” ended St Clair. Technical Director Lincoln Phillips is also optimistic but prefers not to get carried away with the win over Dominican Republic. “A win is a win and especially after our recent slump, we will take this victory with open arms. But at the same time we must use it to pinpoint the areas which we need to work on and believe me, there are quite some sections of our football which needs improvement. The guys still deserve credit for taking a win away from home against a team that tried to make it every inch difficult for them,” said Phillips.