Guyana hopeful

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

SAINTE-LUCE, Martinique:

Guyana never wanted to be in this position: having to beat the Reggae Boyz to enhance their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup.

However, a 1-1 draw with Guadeloupe, followed by a 1-0 loss to Antigua and Barbuda, have all but dashed their hopes of qualifying among the top two teams from Group I to the next round.

"I am really disappointed that we find ourselves in this situation by having the strongest team in the entire competition to play last for a deciding spot," said Wayne Dover, coach of Guyana who will tackle the Boyz in tonight's closing Group I fixture of a double-header at the Riviere Pilote Stadium, at 7:30 (8:30 Jamaica time).

The Guyanese have one point, the same as Guadeloupe who will challenge Antigua and Barbuda in the opening match, which is slated for 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Jamaica time).

"It is not the best position that we would want to be, but we will still try to be positive and hope to get something, more so the result that would move us forward," said Dover. "It is not going to be any task like no way tomorrow we could wake up and beat this team, it's gonna be a tough task and it is one we are not too happy to be facing."

Dover added: "We came here after knowing that this is the group that we were in and our optimism was that after the second game of this round, we should be in a comfortable position knowing that we have Jamaica last."