Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

Gardner

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras:

NATIONAL central defender, Ian 'Pepe' Goodison, is responding well to treatment for injuries on his right leg and is expected to line up in Jamaica's starting 11 when the team faces Honduras in a crucial CONCACAF World Cup qualifier, at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, tomorrow night at 7:30p.m. (8:30 Jamaica time).

"Goodison told me he'll play the game and Doctor (team physician Dr Charles Roberts) is pretty certain also," René Simoes, the Jamaica Football Federation technical director, told journalists when asked about the key defender's status Sunday, at the Hilton hotel where they're based in San Pedro Sula.

The Reggae Boy suffered serious injuries in Saturday's qualifier against Mexico, when the Central American team's captain, Rafael Marquez, planted his studs into Goodison's thigh and leg at the 40th minute, resulting in several ugly-looking abrasions and huge swelling.

Ian Goodison - File

The strong-willed Goodison, a member of the historic 1998 team that qualified for the World Cup Finals in France, had to be stretchered off the pitch, but returned near the 44th minute and played through to the interval. A hobbling Goodison completed the match, but twice had to be taken off the pitch for treatment to the injuries he got in the challenge with Marquez, who was only shown a yellow card for a tackle that clearly deserved red.

Discomfort

Jamaica's team travelled to Honduras Sunday morning and trained at the Estadio Francisco Morazon at 7:30 p.m. and Goodison, moving lighter on the leg but clearly in discomfort, watched from the sidelines with captain Ricardo Gardner, while both were undergoing treatment from team physiotherapist Jair Lyons, for close to two hours.

Updating journalists on Goodison's situation, Dr Roberts outlined the treatment method, extent of recovery and prognosis for tomorrow's match.

"Since his injury on Saturday we've employed all the management procedures for injuries - rest, ice, compression, elevation and physical therapy modalities (ultrasound, electrical stimulation)," Dr Roberts explained.

"He had been withheld from training Sunday and Monday again, he'll not train while we proceed with the present course of treatment. If all proceeds as it's going now we expect to have him this evening for a light workout," he noted.

Continuing, Dr Roberts pointed to the resilience of Goodison, who once braved a serious injury to resume playing and netted the winner against Mexico in a semi-final group stage qualifier in Kingston during the 1998 campaign, as added reason festering belief the player will be ready for action.

"Mentally he's as strong as we all know him to be. He's prepared for the task at hand and that is going to be a major component in the recovery process," Dr Roberts noted. "The majority of the process is under control, it's (swelling) gone down, because we've done compressive bandaging."

Precautionary treatment

Regarding Gardner, the medical practitioner who has been with the team for more than a decade, explained that his treatment on "an adductor muscle strain" (groin strain) is precautionary.

"That's an injury that we've been treating from home. But he played on Saturday with negligible discomfort."

He added: "The majority of players who played in that game were withheld from training Sunday to recover.

"Austin (Rudolph) is having some muscle fatigue, solely in his lower limbs. I'm not worrying about him, it's just to make sure that his hydration is optimised and he gets electrolyte repletion," Dr Roberts added.

From left: Jermaine Hue and Demar Phillips participate in a practice session in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Sunday night. - Contributed