Make do with what we have - Fitzgerald says Whitmore will have to use MLS and USL players if England-based players are unavailable

Former Molynes United head coach Calvert Fitzgerald says that the national senior head coach will have no choice but to make do with the squad that he has available for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

His comments come as English Premier League (EPL) teams announced yesterday that they will not release their players for international games that are played in designated red list countries. In a statement released yesterday, the EPL said that it could not secure an exemption from the mandatory 10 days quarantine period for players arriving back from said countries. Jamaica reportedly could be red-listed by the United Kingdom this week because of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases which would mean players such as Aston Villa's Leon Bailey, Brentford's Ethan Pinnock and West Ham's Michail Antonio would be unavailable for Jamaica's first three World Cup qualifying games.

Fitzgerald said that with the new restrictions, Whitmore will have to depend on the majority of players from North and Central America as well as other territories which have easier measures.

"If we can't get any of the Europe-based, then we have to use the MLS (Major League Soccer) and USL (United Soccer League) players. We just have to work with what we have because if we can't get them, we must first immediately try and secure an alternate team," Fitzgerald told STAR Sports.

Jamaica will travel to Mexico on September 2 before hosting Panama on September 5 and then playing away to Costa Rica on September 8. Both Mexico and Costa Rica are already on the red list which rules out the national players playing in the EPL.

Fitzgerald said that the decision was not unexpected as the clubs would not want to risk their players during this climate and that a continuous local camp should have been in place as a contingency.

"It was always on the cards because of the quarantine and clubs that spend so much money to acquire a player, pay them a salary and get first-world medical treatment and all of that not going to want to risk not having those players play for them for over a month," Fitzgerald said.

"What I think should have happened because of the fact that we are depending on so many England-based players, I think we should have had a local camp,"Fitzgerald said "Not necessarily taking players away from the club but we should have a squad that we occasionally camp for a weekend and preparing them in case something like this happens."

Jamaica Football Federation general secretary Dalton Wint says that the EPL release has pushed back their announcement of the roster for the qualifiers which could come at the end of the week. However, Fitzgerald says that change in personnel will hamper the team's chances of getting off to a good start in an attempt to end the more than two decades wait for another World Cup finals appearance.