SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Despite facing a few setbacks earlier, Jamaica’s Under-23 team remains focused on the task at hand in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Olympic qualification tournament.

The Jamaican camp is upbeat as they seek a positive result in their opening encounter against St Lucia at the Estadio Panamericano, in San Cristobal today.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:00 pm (3:00 pm Jamaica time).

After going through a light training session late yesterday evening, the main objective now is about putting points on the board and advancing to the knockout stage. But to do so, the young Reggae Boyz will have to get a positive result against a fairly respectable St Lucia outfit.

“The session was to get the boys ready in terms of mental state, and I believe they are ready to go so we are looking forward to a good match-up. They (St Lucia) have been doing some development (as) their Under-17 did really well last time out, so I expect the same thing from the Under-23 team. So it is going to be a tough game,” head coach Miguel Coley told the Jamaica Observer.

He pointed out that they will be sticking with the 4-3-3 formation which the players are accustomed to.

“I am looking for a good performance today as the players will be comfortable, because this is what they have been doing in training so far. They have been together for a little while, so I think they will do well with the chemistry on the football pitch,” he added.

“We are confident… I have confidence in my team; it is just for us to go out there and put in the work and get the job done. It would be difficult to assess the fitness in this short session, but most of them are playing for their clubs, so I expect at least 70 per cent or more from these guys,” said Coley.

Meanwhile, Captain Omar Holness echoed similar sentiments.

“We are ready; I believe we have what it takes, but it is just for us to go out there and deal with business. Football is a game of whoever is better on the given day, so we just have to be mentally prepared for that.

“We are not taking our opponents lightly as they will be coming to defeat us, but we are the best in the Caribbean and we intend on proving that,” Holness assured.

Should they come out victorious, the the Boyz will be in pole position to secure the top spot and in the process create history for being the first Jamaican team to qualify for the second phase of Olympic qualification.