Reggae Girlz coach staying patient with Carter

WHILE REGGAE Girlz head coach Hubert Busby Jr is disappointed not to have ace attacker Trudy Carter in his ranks for Friday’s friendly against South Africa, the veteran said it was important to give her time to get playing again after her recovery from an injury.

The Reggae Girls face a South Africa team they have only met once before at the Montego Bay Sports Complex at 8:00 p.m.

“Trudy was originally scheduled to come into the group in France but she picked up an injury and recently kind of came back in. She played the last two games, so I just had a conversation with her just more about the idea of getting some games under her belt before we bring her back in the fold,” said Busby yesterday during a training session at the Montego Bay venue.

Still, Busby believes the squad has enough firepower to deal with Carter’s absence.

“It’s a big pool and being able to evaluate the pool and look at some new players coming as well, especially the young ones. Locally, it was a big plus for us and something we definitely want to focus on and that is basically the reason she is omitted from this particular camp.”

LONG SPELL

Busby’s trump card for this camp, and in the absence of Carter, will be Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw, who is returning after a long spell away from the team.

Initially, Shaw’s absence was deliberate, the striker withdrawing her services in solidarity with her international teammates because of issues with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), but then, injuries sustained while representing City further delayed her return.

Still, Busby is cautioning patience with Shaw’s reintegration.

“It is going to take some time. Obviously, she is playing with the Manchester City players day in, day out. She sees these ladies once every four to six weeks, so it is completely different. Obviously, there are things with her coming in that help us and there are things that we need to do, to help her. It is going to be an integration process; it is not going to be automatically something that will happen overnight,” he said.

South Africa’s last outing saw them falling 4-3 to Zambia on penalties in the final of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Women’s Championship earlier this month.

TEAM LEVEL

Jamaica’s last meeting with South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw in 2019. Then, Shaw had scored a brilliant goal following a mazy run from the half line to pull the team level.

“We know a lot about the South African team, they are a good side. I think coach Ellis has been there since 2019, I think even further. They are a well-coached team; they pose a good threat to us and we are looking forward to playing a very competitive match. We are getting players slowly but surely, we are still missing a few here and there whether it be injury or other commitments through school, but we are really excited, most importantly, just to be back in Jamaica.”

With the match being played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex and not the traditional National Stadium, Busby believes the game will be highly supported by the fans.

“We are expecting a big turnout. The challenge is to motivate them to come here and have 7,000 raucous fans cheering on the Reggae Girlz and giving them a big boost that we haven’t had, like I said, in 15 months. We are really looking forward to having a packed house, not an open seat in the stadium here on Friday,” Busby said.

The Reggae Girlz are also set to play the South Africans on December 2.