By Daraine Luton, Staff ReporterAN 18-man Reggae Boyz squad will leave the island today for Barbados where they will play that country in a friendly international on Sunday.
Technical director Carl Brown, who will be in his first game since having his 'designate' tag removed said yesterday he has a lot of respect for Barbados.
"The Barbados team has always been a strong team. If you look at the recent Gold Cup qualifiers, we drew 1-1 with them, they actually scored first and it was close to the end of the game we equalised," Brown recounted.
Brown singled out Gregory Goodridge, who scored against Jamaica in the Gold Cup qualifier as the dangerman.
"They have one very experienced player in Goodridge, and he has always been the architect and if we can keep the ball away from him, the chances of beating Barbados are always so much greater," Brown disclosed.
Brown revealed that during the training camp, he paid particular attention to getting the players to run off the ball.
"We worked a lot on our movement, we have been very static, if you look at our Premier League you don't get a lot of movement," he said.
Brown said Sunday's game will not just be a warm up for the big event but it will help to pave the way in future team selections, adding that it is important for them to make an impression.
"For the players, it's their opportunity to impress. I have always reminded them that they are competing against every player that is available to play for Jamaica, including those based in England" Brown said.
Explaining the reasons for the large number of defenders in the team, Brown said they are "looking at strengthening the team defensively".
"In our last campaign (World Cup) it was one of the areas that was broken down and we are just trying to get as much work in for the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifiers as possible," he added.
The Wray & Nephew National Premier League's leading goalscorer Roen Nelson (20 goals) will be entrusted with the responsibility of getting the goals for Jamaica.
"We are hoping he will carry his goalscoring form out of the Premier League and into the international arena," Brown added.
The technical director said he was generally happy with what he had seen at the camp.
"Kasai Hinds and Lacon Brissett, we are carrying them for exposure to let them understand what international football is all about.
"Brissett has impressed me and I have said it before and will say it again, its only a pity that age 20 is the first time we are getting him on the national program".
"Shane Crawford, he is probably right now to me the most talented player we have around and once he gets his act going, he will be very good. It's really a joy to watch him play".
Kevin Deerr and Irvino English who are down with the flu will not make the trip. They are being replaced by Oneil Dunn and Kirk Hendricks.
The squad: Aaron Lawrence, Donovan Ricketts, Linval Dixon, Claude Davis, Damion Stewart, Tyrone Marshall, Craig Zaidie, Kirk Hendricks, Robert Scarlett, Shane Crawford, Kasai Hinds, Andrew Williams, Johnathan Williams, Jermaine Anderson, Roen Nelson, Milton Griffiths, Lacon Brissett and Oneil Dunn.
