Lawrence called to join Warriors

WREXHAM defender Dennis Lawrence has been drafted into the Trinidad and Tobago football side as a replacement for injured Scot-land-based professional Marvin Andrews. This was the latest call-up by coach Bertille St Clair who conducted two training sessions with the Warriors at the Sunrise Boulevard Hilton training pitch in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, yesterday.  Midfielder Silvio Spann who plays in Japan, was among the 15 players involved in the sessions after arriving from a 16-hour flight on Sunday night. Dallas FC striker Cornell Glen and Nigel Henry will join the team this week while another Wrexham player, Hector Sam, is scheduled to arrive today.

Under relatively cool conditions, the team trained for close to two hours during the morning period following their continental-style breakfast which kicked off the day’s proceedings from 8 am. The playing field is located a stone’s throw away from the hotel and is a regular base for several clubs and international teams which have play-ed in Florida including some of the MLS and Mexican teams, Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia and Argentina’s Boca Juniors. Using the early part of the session to get the players properly settled following their arrival the previous day, St Clair worked on passing and shooting drills as attacking tactics took up much of the session. Coventry City’s Stern John, Kenwyne Jones and Dwight Yorke were particularly sharp in their finishing but goalkeepers Shaka Hislop and Clayton Ince were not to be outdone between the uprights.

“We used today’s session to really get the guys back into the run of things as a team again. “This bunch really has not been together since the last qualifying match against the USA and so it was important to have them with each other again before the two matches coming up,” St Clair said yesterday. “I was particularly impressed with the efforts of the guys who travelled from the UK yesterday and it shows that the commitment is there and then having the locally-based guys in there working just as hard was an even bigger plus. “I think the drive to do well and get in the best shape possible is there and it shall pay off when the matches come around,” he said. The worry over the broken finger sustained earlier in the month by Ince is unfounded as the former Defence Force player has reported no further pain and was fully active yesterday.

“It hasn’t been a bother and even though it’s heavily strapped and needs icing right after, I am not experiencing major pain or discomfort and all should be well for the weekend,” Ince said. Spann is also coming off three consecutive appearances for Yokohama FC and is fully recovered from a niggling knee injury. “The trip to get here was a long one but it’s always worth it when it comes to being able to join up with the rest of the team. I’m feeling good at the moment because I now have three matches under my belt and the pace of the game there is amazing which has me in good touch,” Spann said. “I’m just really looking forward to settling back with the players on this current team and getting it right for the two upcoming matches,” Spann added. The Warriors will go into a training match against American A-League side Atlanta Silverbacks from 4 pm (5 pm TT time) today at the hotel training ground. The training sessions will continue up until the team’s departure for Guatemala on Thursday.