Defence Force head coach Ross Russell says the 2010 Pro League champions will begin to focus on the Caribbean Club Championship in the not too distant future as they intend to go all the way through to the Concacaf Champions’ League.
Russell said the “Teteron Boys” were still in celebratory mood and rightly so, having just copped their second Pro League title and their first since winning it at the inception in 1999.
“But we are going to focus on the CFU and Concacaf tournaments and then we also have the World Military Games in July.
We have a lot to look forward to and we definitely want to continue our winning ways and show we are a force in the region as well,” said Russell who is also the assistant coach with the T&T Under-17 team that is preparing for the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers in Jamaica next month.
He noted that Devorn Jorsling would be missed as he leaves for US club Orlando City and while Defence Force did not have the luxury of buying top players, it was a factor that he has used to the club’s benefit.
“It will be a loss, because prior to this year and the past two seasons, Jorsling has been our leading scorer and it’s hard to replace a player like that. But we have a player in Richard Roy who has been under his wing and now Carter is back so it’s going to be time for Richard to step up.
“We’re unable to really go out and buy players but it’s not a bad thing because it means I had to work with the same players for two years and I had to really coach and build a team with what I had and this is the end result,” Russell added.
“Everyone wrote off the Defence Force for the past ten years and then to come back with a bang, it’s due to a lot of hard work and dedication by the players and the organisation.
Defence Force won the Concacaf Champions Cup in 1978 and 1985 when they also won the T&TFA Cup and National League title.
They are listed by Concacaf as the only club from the Concacaf to win the treble in one season. They have won 21 national league titles dating back to 1972.