'Biding my time' - Kirlew content to wait for national call up

Montego Bay United's (MBU) midfielder Keneil Kirlew, whose outstanding performance on Monday night was crucial to them picking up a point in their Red Stripe Premier League 1-1 encounter with Mount Pleasant FA, said it is not for him to say if he is the most underrated player in Jamaica, and is just waiting for his time for a national call-up.

Kirlew was an influential player in the middle for MBU in 2014 and 2016 when they captured the RSPL title. However, his only national call-ups came at the Under-20 and Under-23 (Olympics) level.

"Well, I don't think that's for my place to say I'm the most underrated (midfielder). People will say that and sometimes it maybe shows in my performance that I should be there, and I'm not there, but time will tell. We just do the work and wait till our time to see...," said Kirlew who also won the daCosta Cup in 2011 with St James High School.

"I don't know what it is. Maybe the coaches, or whosoever, see something different. But as I said, when it's my time, nothing can stop that, so I'm just waiting for my time," he added.

Despite not being in the best shape at the moment, Kirlew does not believe fitness could be a contributing factor to him being overlooked recently.

GETTING FIT

"I wouldn't say fitness has been keeping me out, because, for the last two years I was dominating in the RSPL. I was doing very well, but now most of us just came back (from the off-season break), so you can see we are not 100 per cent fit, but we are getting there," said Kirlew.

"Most of us as senior players, we really do the extra work day in, day out. We train two times a day, while the other guys who have been here all summer through the preseason only train one. So we are trying to get there and move the team forward," he added.

When asked about MBU's chance of pulling off something spectacular to add another RSPL title to his name this season, Kirlew said their performance on Monday night without a few other key players such as Dino Williams and John Barrett, was still good.

"Most definitely. We still think and know that we can pull off something. Coming up against a Mount Pleasant team with experienced and quality players, and pulling off a draw by putting them on the back foot very early shows that we can do it," said Kirlew.