St Clair happy with players’ attitude

NATIONAL football coach Bertille St Clair has expressed his delight with the attitude of the new players in his squad. St Clair was speaking following the team’s training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, yesterday morning. Trinidad and Tobago will oppose Dominican Republic in the second leg of their CONCACAF second round World Cup qualifier at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella on Sunday. The hosts hold a 2-0 advantage from the first leg in Santo Domingo on June 13. “I was very pleased to see all the guys out there and approaching the sessions very seriously and with a sense of eagerness,” said the Tobago-born St Clair. “It was an excellent session and some of the new players showed good skill and a positive attitude. The older guys also stepped up a bit so the intensity was very good.”

Among the players involved in yesterday’s training session were strikers Jason Scotland (Dundee United), Cornell Glen (New York/New Jersey Metrostars), Marvin Oliver (L-Sporto Crab Connection), Scott Sealy (Wake Forest University) and midfielders Brent Rahim (Falkirk) and Otis Seaton (San Juan Jabloteh). St Clair noted: “We have brought in some new faces and it means that no player is guaranteed a place in the team and as a result of this we will have the players working even harder now in training because everyone wants to be part of the team during this effort to get to the World Cup.” The team will have another practice session this morning at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima before they enter a camp at the Cara Suites, Pointe-a-Pierre.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic contingent will arrive in Trinidad tomorrow and their coach William Bennett is optimistic that his team can turn things around on Sunday. “I think we gave them a good match and we showed that we can compete with Trinidad,” said Bennett after the first leg fixture. “Now we will travel to Trinidad and I think we can have a surprise there because now we know what to expect from them and we know exactly what we have to do to move on in the tournament.”