Jack, St Clair not pushing TT football panic button

Trinidad and Tobago will be without strikers Gary Glasgow and Cornell Glen and defender Derek Phillips in Wednesday’s semi-final round World Cup qualifier against St Vincent and the Grenadines. Despite the injury blows and the 4-1 defeat to Guatemala last Wednesday, TT will not be pushing the panic button as coach Bertille St Clair is confident that they can bounce back. Glasgow suffered a broken shin in the Guatemala match and has been ruled out for two months while Glen’s ankle injury has forced him out for three weeks. Phillips is out for an indefinite period with a thigh strain. Both Glen, limping with his ankle heavily bandaged, and Phillips returned to the United States while Glasgow, also heavily strapped, returned home with the rest of the team on Thursday night. Arnold Dwarika who left the field with a knee injury is fit for Wednesday’s encounter. Eve, who had to skip the Guatemala match after feeling a tinge in his knee just before kick-off, is also expected to be ready.

“It’s very disappointing to be in this state right now,” Glenn said. “I’m pretty sure the guys at my club will be mad about the injury but at the same time I am also disappointed with having to miss the next set of games. I can only hope to recover quickly now.” Glasgow, who had to be carried around in a wheelchair, is thankful he won’t be needing surgery but nonetheless still disappointed as he was expected to feature in the upcoming matches against St Kitts/Nevis and Mexico as well before returning to his club in China in early September. Expected to join the team for Wednesday’s match is Birmingham City striker Stern John, Glasgow Rangers defender Marvin Andrews, Wrexham’s Dennis Lawrence and Dundee’s Brent Sancho. “The injuries are a blow to us but we will not panic.

If you realise in the match against Guatemala even though we lost the player early and were under pressure, the guys continued to fight and we were in the match before the injuries hit us,” St Clair said. “But this is all part of the experience and I am sure a valuable lesson came out of it. We will just focus again and get things in place for the next match (against St Vincent and the Grenadines),” St Clair said. TTFF special adviser Jack Warner, who a couple days earlier, was speaking highly of the progress being shown by Eve and his team, also refused to press the panic button. “It was a loss but all is not lost. At this stage the team cannot afford to let these kind of results throw it off track. The main thing is that the team remains focussed and get things in place for the next set of matches. They must keep the faith,” Warner said. The team leaves for St Vincent tomorrow.