Kenwyne Jones is hoping to shake off a minor hamstring injury in time for the biggest game in his country's history.
The Trinidad and Tobago striker is a doubt for tomorrow's game at Leicester after over-stretching slightly for a ball in training yesterday.
And that could threaten his involvement in the two-legged sudden-death play-off against Bahrain for a place in the World Cup finals.
Jones is having a scan to assess the severity of the problem although FIFA regulations mean Trinidad are entitled to insist he travels in any case.
Initial indications suggest he may have an outside chance of being fit for the home leg a week on Saturday or for the return in Bahrain four days later.
Manager Harry Redknapp would prefer the striker not to have to put himself through so much tiring travelling ahead of the home game against Leeds on November 19.
He said: "Kenwyne has a bit of a hamstring and if the scan shows he is not fit then he should not have to make such a long journey when he is injured."
Jones though is confident he will make it saying: "I am sure I will be fit."
Jones has played in seven qualifiers for the Islanders who reached the play-offs with a 2-1 win over Mexico.
That saw them pip Guatemala to clinch fourth spot behind Mexico, USA and Costa Rica. They now meet Bahrain who clinched fifth place in the Asian group with a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan.
The first leg will be played in Port of Spain on 12 November and the second four days later in Bahrain.
Led by wily old Dutch tactician Leo Beenhakker, Trinidad and Tobago are looking to follow in the footsteps of Jamaica in 1998 to become only the second Caribbean nation in history to reach the World Cup finals.
Speaking in a recent interview for the matchday programme Jones said: "It is a huge game for us. There is so much excitement back home because we are so close.
"We are all really confident that we can win and reach the World Cup finals for the first time and I am looking forward to being part of it."