PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — Despite three full days of travelling and not having a proper training session due to flight delays, a ssistant c oach Toni Cowan says she remains confident that Jamaica’s Under-17 footballers can get past St Kitts and Nevis in their in their opening match of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Group E preliminary qualifying round in St Vincent and the Grenadines today.

The Young Reggae Girls, who arrived in the host nation late last night, will tackle their opponents at 4:00 pm (3:00 pm Jamaica time) at Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown. The game was originally slated for Victoria Park.

After a near six-hour delay from Kingston to Guyana on Tuesday night, the Young Reggae Girlz missed their connecting flight to Trinidad and Tobago and had to stay over in Guyana on Wednesday.

The team then arrived in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday morning, where they spent almost 12 hours at the Piarco International Airport, before departing for the St Vincent and the Grenadines in late in the night.

“I am not overconfident about going into the tournament based on the three full days of travelling we had, but we not only have quality players, we also have experienced players here playing at this level for a couple of years. Some have been playing for three years, while others for two years, so I think we have a good enough team to win our first match.

“We have been in training since March of this year and so we had a decent amount of preparation time. The three days of travelling will definitely hamper us; however, I am pretty sure that the girls can go through the game and play well enough and give us the victory,” Cowan told the Jamaica Observer.

St Kitts and Nevis defeated hosts St Vincent and Grenadines 3-1 on Wednesday to take an early lead in the Group E contest.

“The great thing right now is that the head coach (Xavier Gilbert) is there to see the entire game and so he will have the plan,” Cowan said.

The Jamaicans will next play hosts St Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday.

The Jamaican squad will be boosted by four overseas players.

At the end of the CFU First Round, all five group winners will advance to the final round to be played in Haiti from October 16 to 22.

Squad — Giselle Washington, Chantae Blackwood, Jaden Roberts, Gabrielle Scarlett, Sydoney Clarke, Monique Perrier, Jody Brown, Shereece Young, Tacia Austin, Shaquilla Forbes, Rochell Gray, Shania Harris, Nevillegail Able, Kersha Thomas, Christina Salmon, Suen Gregory, Moesha McLaughlin, Kelly Nunes, Chelisa Schloss and Davia Richards.