Jamaica’s senior men’s football team head coach, Steve McClaren, says his blend of youth and experience in the team’s attack means he’s not needed to consider other options.

The Reggae Boyz left for Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Tuesday, for their important FIFA World Cup qualifier against the host nation on Thursday, and McClaren says he finally has what he considers a settled squad ready to do what’s needed to qualify the nation for its second World Cup appearance since 1998.

One forward absent from the squad named for this game is Maccabi Haifa player Trivante Stewart, who is said to be in good form.

When asked about Stewart’s absence, McClaren said his choices up front were based on familiarity, current form, and the balance of youth and experience within the squad.

“I think knowing players and working with players is always an advantage,” McClaren said, before detailing the four strikers who earned the nod ahead of Stewart. “If I go through the four strikers, Shamar is the best in the Caribbean, and he became a talisman. You saw him in the last game against Bermuda — he was the talisman, he was the frontman, he was the leader, he was the hustler, he was there, fighting for the ball and fighting for everything.”

McClaren described Shamar Nicholson as central to the team’s structure, noting his influence and ability to deliver in key moments.

“Shamar, we’ve had ups and downs with in form, but he’s come in at the right time,” McClaren said. “He’s so important to us. The goals that he scores against Caribbean teams which is the reason why we brought him back into the fold, and it’s a no-brainer. As a talisman up front, he is that number nine, and we need him.”

McClaren also praised Arnett Garden’s Warner Brown, who impressed in recent fixtures.

“We’ve brought in other players when we struggled. We brought in Warner Brown in the St Vincent games. We introduced him in the second game [and] he got the first goal, a great goal. It was such an important goal against the British Virgin Islands that it caused us to win. He brings energy, attitude, exactly what we wanted. He runs in behind and causes problems in the channels and also scores goals. His goals got us points against Guatemala.”

Turning his attention to Rumarn Burrell, McClaren spoke on the youngster’s rapid rise and current form in England at Queens Park Rangers (QPR).

“Then in the summer we didn’t have Brown, we didn’t have Shamar, but we introduced Rumarn Burrell, and he scored his first goal in the Unity Cup. In the Championship, he got a good move to QPR, a big club, and in the last five games, he’s scored four goals. He’s a striker in form. And as one of my staff said, ‘When they’re hot, get them in.’ He’s hot at the moment.”

McClaren also mentioned Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri, whose attitude and pace have impressed him.

“We brought in Cadamarteri when we didn’t have Shamar, we didn’t have Warner, he came in and played against Bermuda, scored against Trinidad. If you notice, all them strikers, one thing they’ve got is attitude. They’ve got speed and they can score. That’s so important in the process.”

McClaren emphasised the youth of his attacking group, saying that all the forwards in contention are under 23.

“The other thing they’ve got — the age of them they’re all under 23,” he said. “So, we’re not just introducing experienced players, but we’re also introducing young players into the fray. We introduced ‘Whisper’ (Dujuan Richards) the last camp. We’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, so, it’s been great to see him.

“The blend of experience and youth, I think, we’ve got really, really well and the number nines at the moment, although there are other players, we’re going with what we know and have been proven.”

McClaren’s comments suggest that his focus is on developing a young, cohesive strike force that will have a strong understanding and gelling should they qualify for the World Cup next summer. The team’s fate is in its own hands as winning these two games would cement the berth.

Jamaica face Trinidad and Tobago at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Thursday at 7:00 pm Jamaica time, then return to Kingston to host Curacao at the National Stadium on Tuesday at 8:00 pm.

MCCLAREN… if I go through the four strikers, Shamar is the best in the Caribbean