MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica —Three players are yet to join camp in head coach Winfried Schaefer’s 23-man squad which will carry Jamaica’s hopes of being crowned champions of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Men’s Caribbean Cup, which kicks off today (Tuesday, November 11) in Montego Bay.

FC Dallas midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson, goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr of Sarpsborg 08, and offensive midfielder Simon Dawkins of Derby County are yet to arrive in Jamaica at the time of posting.

Watson and Kerr are due in Tuesday, while Dawkins is expected to arrive on Wednesday, the very day Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz open their account against French-speaking Martinique at the Montego Bay Sports Complex for an 8:00 pm Group B showdown.

In the opening game of the double-header at 5:30 pm, Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda are down for a squabble.

Watson and Kerr had late weekend games for their clubs, while team officials told the Jamaica Observer that Dawkins requested additional time to deal with a personal matter regarding his mother.

He is unlikely to start the match on Wednesday.

The Boyz have a scheduled training session for later Tuesday at the Half Moon Golf and Country Club at 4:00 pm.

A total of 18 overseas-based players have been called up by Schaefer, and of that number, seven are from the British leagues, seven from the US Major League Soccer, three from Norway and one from the lower leagues of the US.

Five local-based players, including the Red Stripe Premier League’s leading scorer Craig Foster of Reno FC, along with the Kemar Lawrence of Harbour View and the Waterhouse trio of Hughan Gray, Nicholy Finlayson and Romario Campbell, were also named.

Other members of the glory-chasing squad are Jamar Loza (Norwich City), Nyron Nosworthy (Bristol City), Wes Morgan (Leicester City), Joel McAnuff (Leyton Orient), Joel Grant (Yeovil Town), Rodolph Austin (Leeds United), Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union), Ryan Thompson (Tampa Bay Rowdies), Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo), Demar Phillips (Aalesund), Alvas Powell (Portland Timbers), Darren Mattocks (Vancouver), Dane Richards (Bodo/Glimt), Michael Seaton ((DC United) and Deshorn Brown (Colorado Rapids).

Sean Williams