Tweet
<DIV class=headline>Ricardo's role reversal in Blades clash</DIV><DIV style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px">By Gordon Sharrock</DIV><DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; TEXT-ALIGN: right"></DIV>
RICARDO Gardner will go head to head with Luton Shelton at the Reebok on Saturday, just five days after helping the quicksilver Sheffield United striker hit the international goal trail.
The Wanderers left-back delivered the corner that teed up Shelton for the equaliser as Jamaica came from behind to draw 1-1 with Panama in a friendly in Kingston.
But he will be hoping to put the shackles on his fellow countryman when the Whites look to stop the rot of three successive Premiership defeats that have cast serious doubts over their chances of qualifying for Europe.<DIV id=midpagempu style="DISPLAY: none"><SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT></DIV>
For Gardner, the return to Caribbean action as captain of the Reggae Boyz was the latest phase of his recovery from the knee injury that kept him out of Premiership action for much of the first half of the season.
And, although his performance was not up to his own high standards, he regarded it as another encouraging step on the road to recapturing the fitness and form that saw him acclaimed last season as one of the most highly-rated left-backs in the Premiership.
"It was not one of my best games but, coming back from injury, I am getting there," Gardner said after his first appearance under the scrutiny of recently-appointed technical director, Velibor "Bora" Milotinovic, who is aiming to guide Jamaica to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"At the end of the day, we didn't lose and that's what practice games are for.
"We are getting better and better for when the qualifying games come up."
RICARDO Gardner will go head to head with Luton Shelton at the Reebok on Saturday, just five days after helping the quicksilver Sheffield United striker hit the international goal trail.
The Wanderers left-back delivered the corner that teed up Shelton for the equaliser as Jamaica came from behind to draw 1-1 with Panama in a friendly in Kingston.
But he will be hoping to put the shackles on his fellow countryman when the Whites look to stop the rot of three successive Premiership defeats that have cast serious doubts over their chances of qualifying for Europe.<DIV id=midpagempu style="DISPLAY: none"><SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT></DIV>
For Gardner, the return to Caribbean action as captain of the Reggae Boyz was the latest phase of his recovery from the knee injury that kept him out of Premiership action for much of the first half of the season.
And, although his performance was not up to his own high standards, he regarded it as another encouraging step on the road to recapturing the fitness and form that saw him acclaimed last season as one of the most highly-rated left-backs in the Premiership.
"It was not one of my best games but, coming back from injury, I am getting there," Gardner said after his first appearance under the scrutiny of recently-appointed technical director, Velibor "Bora" Milotinovic, who is aiming to guide Jamaica to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"At the end of the day, we didn't lose and that's what practice games are for.
"We are getting better and better for when the qualifying games come up."
