Trinidad and Tobago's head coach, Dwight Yorke, is hoping for a sea of red at the Ato Boldon Stadium as his Soca Warriors aim to complete the job in the decisive second leg of their Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary clash against Cuba on Tuesday.
The Soca Warriors take a 2-1 advantage into the encounter, which will be Yorke's first competitive contest on the sideline on home soil. As such, he said there could be no better way to mark the occasion than with a sell-out crowd roaring his team on to qualification.
"It’s a great position to be in. A fitting way to start my career here as the head coach would be to have the fans, to have the support of the nation behind this team, and, of course, to qualify for the Gold Cup, which is huge. So hopefully we will be able to produce the goods," Yorke said ahead of the 7:00pm kickoff.
Despite the narrow advantage, Yorke knows the job is far from done, as he stressed the need for his squad to remain sharp and aggressive. This as he expressed concerns about his team's habit of conceding early.
"It’s a little bit of a concern. Since I’ve taken over this job, it’s something I’ve tried to eradicate from the squad and the players are fully aware of it. We need to remain aggressive and make sure we try to win the game," he stated.
Yorke will have a couple more weapons in his arsenal with the return of Jamal Jack and Kevin Molino, who missed the trip to Cuba due to passport and visa issues for Jack, and an undisclosed problem for Molino.
“We felt coming back home there was no harm bringing them into the camp, seeing what they are like, assessing them. Sometimes at the international level, you need to freshen things up," Yorke explained.
That said, the tactician pointed to the need for further improvements from the first leg, particularly in ball retention and team shape.
“Because of the time span we have, we don’t expect it to be perfect. I’m not making excuses, but we’ve seen drastic improvements, and the players will be ready. You’ll see a team that continues to progress," Yorke ended.