Stephen Hart is still not taking anything for granted. Hart said he planned to dress the best eleven players available to him, despite winning the reverse leg against St. Lucia 4-1.
Hart spoke to reporters from St. Lucia following today’s training session. He said that the team was looking loose and confident in the lead up to match day three of the second round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
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The only major injury concern Canada has is Kevin McKenna, who is nursing a foot injury. That puts Canada down three regular defenders.
No worries, says Hart. Without elaborating on how he planned to fill that gap, the manager indicated that he felt confident in the group ne had in camp.
Hart also reiterated that he would not give young players a run out unless the “earned it.” However, he did allow that if Canada jumped out to a big lead he would consider giving both Ashtone Morgan and Joseph Di Chiara their first cap. He said that both players had trained well so far.
“If we are in a situation where we are comfortable I will not hesitate on getting them some playing time.”
However, the bottom line is the bottom line – three points.
“We need the result,” Hart said.
“We have strengths that we identified prior (to the round) and we want to take advantage of them and to go out and control the game from the start. But we have to play a balanced game.”
In Hart’s opinion the excitement of playing the first game of the round and of being at home made the reverse fixture result less impressive than it could have been. He said that he expects more for the team in St. Lucia.