LEICESTER City defender Wes Morgan, and Shaun Cummings, of Reading FC, are the newcomers in a 27-man squad released yesterday by new head coach Winfried Schafer for Jamaica’s World Cup Qualifying encounters away to Panama on Friday, and at home to Costa Rica next Tuesday.

Also returning to the Reggae Boyz fold are Marlon King and Chris Humphrey, who were banned from the national team for breaches of the team’s disciplinary code of conduct.

Meanwhile, midfielder Jobi McAnuff, captain of Reading FC, and striker Luton Shelton, both of whom were absent from Jamaica’s last three World Cup Qualifiers for varying reasons, are back. McAnuff missed the games for personal reasons, while Shelton was surprisingly dropped from the team.

Five local-based players have been named in the squad, including goalkeeper Gariece McPherson of Cavalier Soccer Club; defender Adrian Reid of Portmore United, who is no stranger to the Reggae Boyz squad, having been in and out of the set-up over the past few years; midfielder Wolry Wolfe, of Humble Lion, who like Reid, has been in and out of the set-up for a number of years from junior level; defender Kemar Lawrence of Harbour View gets a first-time call up, while striker Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson is the lone local-based forward among the seven named in the squad, which also included three goalkeepers, 10 defenders and seven midfielders.

“We must go to Panama confident, with power,” German coach Schafer told the media prior to releasing the list of 27 players at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters yesterday.

He indicated that the squad will be reduced to 24 at the end of Wednesday’s training session at the National Stadium East field, following late evening sessions yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The head coach also noted that before arriving at the list of players, he had researched them on the Internet, as well as spoken with each of them. He said each player believed that the group of players had it within them to turn the team’s fortunes.

“I want players who have heart for Jamaica,” he stressed. “If they don’t have heart, I don’t want them,” he added.

“We have to be a team, not 11 players, but a team, with a strong bench, strong 11 on the field. We must give the players confidence, and we must trust the players, and the players must fight for each other.”

Outstanding central defender Adrian Mariappa, who signed for English Premiership outfit Crystal Palace from Reading FC yesterday, has also been included, though he remains ineligible for Friday’s game against Panama, having received a red card in Jamaica’s last game against Honduras on June 11.

The 29-year-old Morgan is the captain of Leicester City, and is connected to Jamaica through his grandparents. He’s looking forward to the challenge of turning around this faltering campaign.

“It is time to get some wins under our belts, obviously,” he said yesterday, shortly after arriving at the Norman Manley International Airport.

“I was approached after they looked at the position in the team, which probably needs strengthening, and they must have felt I fit the bill, so I am here to try and improve that.

“We still have every chance, we still have four games and we just have to go out there and do the job on the pitch and get some points. We have plenty of time to train together and get to know how each other play, and hopefully when it comes to the game we can get it right.”

He added that his job is to “keep the goals from going in and keep clean sheets”, while “giving the strikers the opportunities to score some goals and win some games”.

Cummings, 24, said that he is happy to be here and “hopefully to get some good results”.

The wing back added that his job is to “go up and down, keep the ball, that’s the main thing and get crosses in”.

“I know a lot of the Boyz, so it’s all about the bonding over the few days and we could find those results that we need to qualify.”

Meanwhile, JFF president Captain Horace Burrell once again called for support for the special charter flight, which is scheduled to leave at about 10:00 am on Thursday and return early Saturday morning, and Digicel’s Tahnida Nunes revealed that her company is “100 per cent behind” the Reggae Boyz.

Full training squad: Goalkeepers — Donovan Ricketts, Dwayne Miller, Gariece McPherson; Defenders — Wes Morgan, Lloyd Doyley, Daniel Gordon, Alvas Powell, Shaun Cummings, Jermaine Taylor, O’Brian Woodbine, Adrian Mariappa, Adrian Reid, Kemar Lawrence; Midfielders  Rudolph Austin, Marvin Elliott, Jermaine Johnson, Joel McAnuff, Garath McCleary, Chris Humphrey, Wolry Wolfe; Forwards — Theo Robinson, Luton Shelton, Jermaine Beckford, Darren Mattocks, Ryan Johnson, Marlon King and Jermaine Anderson.