CATHERINE HALL, St James — Montego Bay United’s (MBU) coach Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis thinks the edge that his team will need to get by defending champions Arnett Gardens in their two-way Red Stripe Premier League semi-finals, starting at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Monday night, will be “mental”.

Montego Bay United finished third in the points tables on 59 points, just two behind regular season winners Portmore United, and one behind Arnett Gardens. The Montego Bay outfit will be contesting their third consecutive semi-finals.

Clarendon clubs Portmore United and Humble Lion, will meet in the other semi-final that starts on Sunday.

Last Sunday, after ending the regular season with a 2-0 win over Harbour View at WesPow Park, Davis told Jamaica Observer West that while his team has a lot of work to do this week in preparation for the two-way semi-final, most of the work would be on the mental side of the game.

“This win must have done something (positive) for us; after losing three straight, it is good to win again; [but] we have little more work to do, especially with the minds of the players,” said Davis.

After being the first club to secure a semi-final place, Montego Bay United limped to the finish line, going four games without a win before beating Harbour View on Sunday.

Montego Bay United have not beaten Arnett Gardens in six straight meetings since a big 5-0 thrashing in the first round in Montego Bay, last year.

The teams drew the other two games, before Arnett Gardens won last season’s final 2-0. This season they drew 2-2 in the first round. Arnett then won the next two games by 2-1 margins.

Meanwhile, Montego Bay United, who won their only title in the 2013-14 season, could have some injury concerns after striker Dino Williams limped off the field after just 30 minutes on Sunday; midfielders Dwayne Ambusley and Jermaine Woozencroft, as well as number one goalkeeper Jacomeno Barrett, sat out the game. However, they are all expected to be back in action on Monday.

Another midfielder, Fabion McCarthy, who missed the entire season until Sunday when he played the last 26 minutes, could play some part in the semi-finals.

“McCarthy will need some more conditioning work but he can help the team – but we will work with him to get him ready. We had hoped to give him about 10 minutes today (Sunday), but he got more than that,” Davis explained.

In-form player Owayne Gordon, who banged in his 19th goal of the season against Harbour View, is expected to lead the MBU attack against Arnett Gardens, as MBU are hoping to take the lead going into the return leg.

Allan Ottey has a knack for coming up big in play-off games and had led the assault against Waterhouse in the semi-finals last year.

Ottey is overdue for goals since he returned from an extended injury layoff, while Ronaldo Rodney has made significant contributions and could feature in coach Davis’ plans on Monday.