Jamaica’s senior women’s football team will be without captain Khadija “Bunny” Shaw when they face host England in an international friendly match in Leicester on Sunday.

Head Coach Hubert Busby named the squad for the game during a press conference on Tuesday. It features several younger players, including Vancouver Whitecaps forward Jade Mitchell, a regular at the Under-20 level who is now in line for her senior debut.

Busby says Shaw is still out of action internationally because of the fitness programme set by her club Manchester City.

“She had a long-term injury,” Busby said. “She’s on her way back to full strength, but as I’ve alluded to in the past, it’s very rare that clubs allow players coming back from those sort of long-term injuries to come back and [immediately] play matches with their national teams. That’s always reserved for their clubs and with preseason on the horizon, the most important thing for us, and for Bunny, is to make sure she’s healthy going into the start of her season with the Women’s Super League, and for us to make sure that she’s healthy heading into the World Cup qualifiers. That’s the priority.”

While Busby admits to frustration at not always having a full-strength team, he says he prefers to be positive about the opportunity it provides for younger squad members.

“You have to extract the positive,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are missing players, but what happens if we’re missing players in October (when World Cup qualifying begins) — things outside of our control? We’re now going into that first round; we’ve given experience to our younger players. Sometimes when you do have those younger players, there’s a bit of that exuberance, that excitement, that energy they bring.

“Yes, they’re going to sometimes make mistakes, but they’re growing. Every time they come in, they’re growing, so it’s frustrating not to have a lot of our experienced players, but a lot of our experienced players, as well, are coming off very long seasons where they need that mandatory break. It’s not just us, but all the other nations who are playing this late into the season. We’re not playing a competition.

“I think these games, in terms of giving a lot of our younger players the opportunity to experience the high-pressure environment of playing the top 10 teams in the world, I feel it’s only going to put them in good stead.”

Two players expected in the squad were Liverpool fullback Taylor Hinds and Aston Villa forward Ebony Salmon.

While Busby could not give an update on Salmon, he said the team is still awaiting final documentation from the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) to permit her to play “Type A” friendly matches.

“It’s a frustrating process, but it’s a process we have to allow to play out,” Busby said. “So, really, what we want to do is to ensure that everything is in place outside this window and heading into qualifiers. I know all the necessary parties, and those who are able will do their best to work with PICA to ensure we get all those documents in order prior to October.”

The Reggae Girlz arrived in England on Tuesday and will have their first training session on Wednesday morning.

The game takes place at Leicester City FC’s King Power Stadium on Sunday at 11:00 am Jamaica time.

JAMAICA SQUAD:

Goalkeepers — Liya Brooks, Serena Mensah, Aliyah Morgan

Defenders — Allyson Swaby, Naya Cardoza, Chantelle Swaby, Amelia van Zanten, Nyema Ingelton, Tiffany Cameron

Midfielders — Atlanta Primus, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Vyan Sampson, Jade Mitchell, Jade Bailey

Forwards — Kayla McKenna, Kalyssa van Zanten, Kameron Simmonds, Reanna Blades, Natasha Thomas, Ricshya Walker