Jamaica Head Coach Steve McClaren says the team’s survival in the Concacaf Gold Cup is down to mentality as they face Guadeloupe in their second Group C game in San Jose, California, at 6:45 pm today.

Having lost their opening game 1-0 to Guatemala on Monday, the Reggae Boyz find themselves in a position where a loss to Guadeloupe eliminates them from the tournament. At the same time, a win means their hopes of advancing stay alive as they face Panama in the final group game.

But McClaren says a win today is not about specifics, like team tactics and whether the midfield clicks. He wants to see the players showing more fight than they did in the first game, and a resolve to get a better result.

“I’ll make sure we have that mentality to give a reaction in performance,” McClaren said in a pre-game press conference on Thursday. “You get the performance, you get the results. That’s the most important thing against Guadeloupe, that we get a reaction from the team.

“It’s not about tactics, it’s not about midfield, it’s about a reaction, a mentality to bounce back and show resilience and get a result. That’s always the challenge, not just for myself and the coaches, but it’s also the responsibility of the players. We were very disappointed after the game. We said it was going to be a different game against Guatemala, and it certainly was. This one also will be, tomorrow.”

Although McClaren says mentality is key to a better showing in this game, he has admitted that he does not yet feel comfortable with his midfield set-up. He says he is still looking for the right defensive midfielder, especially with Isaac Hayden having to leave the camp with an injury. He has since been replaced by Mount Pleasant midfielder Sue-Lae McCalla.

“At the moment, we haven’t found that ideal ‘six’ [defensive midfielder] — for me, anyway — that can play that role,” McClaren said. “People have done a great job — Lati [Joel Latibeaudiere], fantastic. He comes in, he always does a job for us, and we’ve tried to help the team also, with an inverted full back to give us a little bit more stability in there, but it is a conundrum and one that we have to find a solution for. So it’s not just what we have now but also for building towards the World Cup qualifiers.”

Jamaica’s centre backs must be focused at all times as Guadeloupe striker Thierry Ambrose could prove to be a handful. His accuracy with passes in their 5-2 loss to Panama on Monday provided an assist for his team, and he has also shown a willingness to challenge for loose balls in and around the opposition’s area.

That loss to Panama for Guadeloupe, however, puts them in the same position as Jamaica in the group, and they will be expected to put up a fight that reflects their position.

Bobby Reid has returned to the team and could feature today, but must shake off the poor form that has affected him while in national colours for over a year if he is to make an impact on this game.

Jamaica will also look for more incisiveness from wingers Leon Bailey and Renaldo Cephas and hope Warner Brown can recapture his scoring form from two games ago, when he scored a brace as Jamaica beat Guatemala 3-0 in World Cup qualifiers last week.

Otherwise, they will hope for Michail Antonio to come off the bench and provide a spark. He, however, only featured in the second half on Monday after returning to football from a car crash in December.

Guadeloupe has, however, not lost in their last eight games where they scored first, but lost every game since 2020 where they conceded first. They are, however, unbeaten against Caribbean opposition in their last three games, without a goal conceded.