Seven Swansea City players have left the team in order to join their national squads ahead of World Cup qualifiers.
Jason Scotland and Dennis Lawrence arrived to Port of Spain yesterday to join the T&T team who will face Guatemala in their opening game of the qualification campaign. The Soca Warriors then fly to Chicago for their second game against the team USA next Wednesday.
Martinez expressed his slight concerns regarding the Scotland’s call-up:
| “I would have preferred to have Jason here settling down a bit and getting a full week’s training under his belt ahead of the Crystal Palace game. That would have been ideal, but then you will never get a happy situation with every player. Now Jason has gone, we hope he is involved in the two games because doing all that travelling to sit on the bench would be a waste of time.” |
Other Swans adding more caps to their tally are Ashley Williams and Owen Tudur-Jones with the Wales senior team who head east to cross swords with Azerbaijan and Russia. In the meantime Brian Flynn’s young guns of the Welsh U-21 including Shaun MacDonald, Matty Collins and Joe Allen are getting ready for the next Thursday’s match against Romania.
Martinez on the Swans’ Welsh call-ups:
| “I’m pleased because it’s a reward for the good work the players have done with us.
But from a selfish point of view it’s not ideal that we are not going to see Jason and Dennis until a week tomorrow or possibly a week on Friday It’s a bit easier with the Welsh lads – the under-21s will be back on Wednesday and the seniors on Thursday. We just have to hope that they don’t come back injured and that they all play some part in the games. It’s a thin line between having a positive experience with your country and being asked to travel and wasting your time. |
