By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff ReporterAFTER THREE international friendlies in which Jamaica's Reggae Boyz have earned two wins and a draw, technical director Carl Brown still says he has some work to do to get the team ready for the looming World Cup qualifiers.
After Wednesday night's friendly against Venezuela, Brown told the media of some of the concerns that he had.
CONCERNED
"I'm a little concerned about the injuries that (Ricardo) Fuller is carrying around but we'll just have to continue to nurse him and see where it goes," Brown said.
Brown went on to point to more technical concerns.
"I'm still a bit concerned about our midfield, Andy (Williams) did very well outside there for us but we didn't really have an orthodox left side midfielder. It's great that 'Bibi' Gardner is back playing, he played 45 minutes (in England this week) and came out of it looking good. So if there is a major concern that is the area," Brown said.
DECISION NOT YET MADE
The technical director also pointed to the fact that he had not yet come to a decision as to which team would best represent the black, green and gold. With the World Cup qualifiers just over a month away, Jamaica suffered the blow of losing their big 'one a day striker' Onandi Lowe.
In a late Tuesday arrival, Lowe made a surprise appearance on the Jamaican bench but found that his services were not needed. That pointed to depth within a team that had been criticised and pointed out the dilemma of finding a best 11.
He spoke of Damani Ralph, who was gaining his first start for the Reggae Boyz.
"Damani Ralph had his first game out there and I believe that he tried too hard to show that he needs to be out there," Brown said. "I told him at the beginning of the game that he didn't need to prove anything to anybody; he's there because we know that he can play," he added.
With all the problems of getting the players ready however, Brown had high praise for the performance of the Jamaicans against Venezuela.
"On a scale of one to 10, I would give this performance a seven or an eight. We looked at this Venezuelan team and when we had to stand up and fight. The team did that," he said.
"We saw the bruises out there. It's going to take that in games to get out of it (with a win) and the team was willing to do that and that was good for me," he said.
