PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago head coach Dennis Lawrence has pointed to a lack of commitment defensively, after his side blew a two-goal advantage and were held to a 2-2 draw by Martinique in the CONCACAF Nations League on Monday.

The hosts led 2-0 early in the second half at the Ato Boldon Stadium before conceding twice through set pieces, to register their second successive draw against the French Caribbean side, following their 1-1 stalemate in Fort-de-France last Friday.

“We (couldn’t) defend set pieces. It’s a problem we identified in the first game. We didn’t have enough people in the box ready to put their head on it and take a cut. It’s that simple,” Lawrence told a media conference here.

“We had it in the palm of our hands, and we gave it away all because we couldn’t defend set pieces the way we were meant to defend set pieces. We didn’t have people in the box ready to put their head on it and take a cut to defend the corners.”

The result left T&T second in the three-team group on two points, and they will next face Honduras twice in the space in the space of four days starting October 10 here.
Without a win in 12 outings, Lawrence said there was a possibility new players could come in for the upcoming fixtures.

“Before you talk about changes, you need to have options. We need to find the options first then start thinking about changes. There are a couple that we’re working on, to bring in to represent T&T,” he said.

“I’m hoping that between now and October, their documents would come into play so we can put some more pressure on the boys that are in the squad. I think we need competition.”

He added: “We, in the past, would select squads based on performances for your football club. We have got to a stage now where we are selecting squads based on players just playing football.

“The past is the past and you have to work on the future but when you look on what we used to call on before, it’s not on the same. We are calling on a different level of players.
“So now the target for a lot of these players is you need to be selected based on your performance and not just playing.”

However, Lawrence reserved praise for Ryan Telfer, the 25-year-old Canada-born winger who made his debut in the first fixture against Martinique then scored his first goal in the second game on Monday.

“I have to give credit to Ryan Telfer because when you look at him, he is performing for his club and he comes and performs for Trinidad and Tobago and I hope he continues,” the former national defender said.

“And I hope the boys can learn from his example because he has been pristine as a professional since he has been with us. I hope it can rub off on some of the players for them to understand what professionalism is all about.”