IT may not be the game they were expecting but Senior Reggae Girlz Head Coach Lorne Donaldson says the objective remains the same as they seek to up the ante in preparation for the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer.

Donaldson is adamant the coaching staff and team are focused on what they can control — and that is to not only put in a good performance in today’s encounter against Sheffield United, but also smooth over technical and tactical flaws in the process.

Kick-off for the friendly fixture at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, is 2:00 pm (8:00 am Jamaica time).

“With all that happened, I think we have settled in well. We’ve had about four sessions which were a mixture of both light and heavy tactical and technical work as we remain focused on ourselves and doing what needs to be done before we get to the World Cup,” Donaldson told the Jamaica Observer.

“So regardless of who we play, the objectives are still the same — we want to get ourselves a little bit more cohesion and obviously there are a few players missing that we wanted to be here, but we keep the same mindset. We are still aiming high, especially where our cohesion as a group is concerned because that is most important to how we want to play,” he added.

The fact that this window represents his last chance to possibly lock in his final squad for a second-consecutive appearance at the global showpiece makes it of utmost importance.

So despite the absence of a few key players — namely Konya Plummer, Siobhan Wilson, Deneisha Blackwood, Jody Brown and Trudi Carter — from the current squad for various reasons, Donaldson is intent on not holding back against the opposition which is currently ninth in the FA Women’s Super League standing.

The next window scheduled for July 10-18 is only a few days away from the World Cup kick-off on July 20, with the final set for August 20.

“It’s a game and so we have to look forward to playing with the group that’s here, and I think the players are ready to get into it. We’ve had various meetings and we understand the situation so we are focused on the task at hand which is to get the best out of the players individually and also as a team,” Donaldson said.

“And because it’s only one game we won’t be trying to shift a lot of stuff. But we know how we want to play tactically and so our focus is going to be stylistically how we want to play going forward. So, it’s not what we wanted but it’s great to be here and we give the JFF and the Bob Marley Foundation credit for getting us here,” he ended.

For the World Cup the Girlz are drawn in Group F to face Brazil, France and Panama.