Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said he is aware that Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) will be a challenge for Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz in their second Concacaf Gold Cup group stage match on Wednesday evening.

Although Hallgrímsson recently described the United States of America (USA) as “possibly the strongest team in the tournament”, it’s T&T who lead Group A after their 3-0 win over St Kitts and Nevis on Sunday. This was a day after Jamaica and USA played to a 1-1 draw.

But the USA also faces St Kitts and Nevis tonight and is widely expected to win that game. This makes Jamaica’s need for a win tonight even more important.

“The second game is always important,” Hallgrímsson said in a pre-game press conference on Tuesday. “A win for Trinidad would get them through. We know what we are facing; we need to get good results against them, so we’re only thinking about this match now. So, we’re not thinking far ahead. We just wanna go out there so we can have a good performance and hopefully a win tomorrow. That’s the only thing we are thinking about at this stage of the tournament.”

Hallgrímsson, still seeking his first win with the team, has faced T&T twice already this year, although in less competitive circumstances. Those two games took place in Montego Bay and Kingston with both teams experimenting with younger players, many making their international débuts.

Jamaica lost the first game 1-0 then drew the other 0-0.

“The Trinidad games we played in Jamaica, there was a lot of long balls, there was a lot of fight everywhere on the pitch; it was not played much on the ground, those matches,” Hallgrímsson said. “We kind of played the same style in those games. It wasn’t pretty to watch, so, hopefully, we can do better. When we have the ball, we can hopefully play better than we did in Jamaica.”

But the stakes are higher this evening, not only because of the need for the first win of the tournament, and Hallgrímsson seeking his first with the team, but also because the Soca Warriors are considered Jamaica’s fiercest rival.

Hallgrímsson said Assistant Coach Merron Gordon has explained the rivalry to him and the newer England-based players in the team.

“He was introducing us to the history behind the rivalry of the two nations,” Hallgrímsson said. “It was a good meeting and a sense for us that don’t know the passion between these two islands and the rivalry between them. We got some history lessons and, on top of that, some information about their players.”

Hallgrímsson is also aware of the physical threat T&T poses.

“It’s been trying to switch the mindset to what we will expect in the match,” he said. “We will not get anything for free. We will face hard tackles, a lot of balls to fight for — the first balls, the second balls, we have just been talking about that.”

For a win this evening Jamaica will have to be much better than they were against the USA. While Hallgrímsson puts the USA’s goal down to a chance created from an unfortunate deflection off one of his defenders, and wants more focus from players over 90 minutes, he said the team will improve with each game.

“We are growing as a unit, as a team, and the understanding between the players about the tactics is increasing as we play more games together. We will grow as a team,” he said.

Although Hallgrímsson said his squad is deep enough to freely rotate, it is unlikely that he will make many changes to his starting 11 from Saturday. Captain Andre Blake is expected back in goal, as are defenders Damion Lowe and Dexter Lembikisa. Demarai Gray and Bobby Decordova-Reid should return on the wings, with Leon Bailey partnering with Michail Antonio in attack.

Hallgrímsson may make changes in midfield and play Daniel Johnson from the start at the expense of either Kevon Lambert or Joel Latibeaudiere. He may also give 36-year-old centre-half Adrian Mariappa a rest, as he played all 270 minutes of Jamaica’s last three matches. But he would not be replaced by Ethan Pinnock, who is yet to join the team because of a family emergency.

“We are in regular contact with Ethan and we are happy to say that the situation is getting better,” Hallgrímsson said. “We are hopeful that at one point he will join us, but, of course, family is first and we will take it day by day. Hopefully, we at least wish that he and the family will find the time for him to come. But it is looking better and we thank god, and we will go on from this. I cannot say when and if [he will arrive], but we hope.”

Jamaica’s game kicks off at CITYPARK in St Louis, Missouri, at 6:30 pm Jamaica time, then USA and St Kitts and Nevis play the second game of the doubleheader at 8:30 pm.