Busby: Blackwood’s absence a huge blow
While acknowledging the impact that national senior women’s defender Deneisha Blackwood’s absence will have on their preparations for the November World Cup qualifiers, national senior women’s head coach Hubert Busby says he is confident that others will shoulder the responsibility that will be required to help the team succeed.
Blackwood, 24, will miss the Reggae Girlz’s next international friendly against Costa Rica on October 24 as well as the start of the World Cup qualifiers because of a knee injury suffered in August while playing for her National Women’s Soccer League team the Houston Dash earlier in August.
Blackwood had surgery to correct the problem and her club has confirmed that she will miss the final 10 games of the regular season. Busby did not disguise how much losing Blackwood for the start of their journey towards the 2023 tournament has affected the team but is confident other players will fill the void she leaves behind.
“It’s a huge blow. There is no getting around it. Deneisha has been a stalwart. To see her grow on and off the field has been remarkable to see and we are extremely proud of her,” Busby told STAR
Sports. “Den Den” is important to us even when she is not playing and as one of the leaders of this group she will be with us rallying and doing what she needs do.”
The Costa Rica friendly will be the last window Busby has to to evaluate his players before their opening qualifying game against Bermuda.
“We can’t obviously replace Blackwood but we always have to make sure that someone else steps up and I have no doubt someone will step up in her absence to do the job for our country,” Busby said. “It’s a huge blow but we will find someone else who will be able to do the job later this month and in November.”