Striker Smith ready for national return ahead of next month’s World Cup quaifiers

HAMILTON, Bermuda, (CMC) – National coach Kyle Lightbourne has welcomed United Kingdom-based striker Jonté Smith’s announcement that he has made himself available for selection for Bermuda’s national team ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifying matches against the Cayman Islands and Suriname.

The 26-year-old striker, who plays for Woking in England’s fifth-tier National League, missed the first two CONCACAF Zone Group B matches against Canada and Aruba in March.
However, Smith confirmed at the weekend that he has committed to the island’s remaining qualifying group matches.

“I’m happy at the possibility of being back with my team-mates,” he told the Royal Gazette newspaper.
“I know that we’re all looking forward to doing our best to get six points in the next two games.
“We want to do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position possible.

“We know that it won’t be easy with it being hard to prepare how we normally would for international games, with question marks around some players’ availability and the issues that COVID causes to travel and preparation.
“All we can do is do our best with the things that we can control and adapt to the things that we can’t.”

Lightbourne, happy to have the player’s services at his disposal once again, said: “Jonté is one of our leading strikers on the island, so it’s always good to have your top players available.
“It’s not always possible people are going to be available due to certain (COVID-19) travel restrictions and where they are just generally in their life.”

Fit-again Smith, son of former Bermuda national cricket coach Clay Smith, joined Woking in January after being sidelined by a serious ankle injury he picked up at the end of the 2019-20 season while playing for League Two club Cheltenham Town, but has so far failed to score in 12 appearances.

Lightbourne’s team are third in Group B behind Canada and Suriname, who both have six points after two matches.

Bermuda suffered a 5-1 defeat against Canada before bouncing back with a 5-0 win over Aruba in their opening qualifying matches in Florida in March.
Only the top team in the group will advance to the next round of the competition.

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