Preston North End midfielder on amber alert for Jamaica international duty

The Preston North End midfielder is in Jamaica’s squad for the World Cup qualifier against Panama in Kingston on Sunday night.

However, Johnson and the majority of the other English-based players in the Reggae Boyz set-up will not feature in the two away games Jamaica are playing either side of facing Panama.

Jamaica is on the amber list for travel and those people double vaccinated do not have to quarantine on return to the UK.

The Reggae Boyz play Mexico and Costa Rica away, both countries on the Government’s red list.

Anyone returning from those countries would have to hotel quarantine for 10 days.

Jamaica have had to name a 35-man squad for the three World Cup qualifiers, with it being a weakened squad for the two away games.

Johnson, 28, played all four of Jamaica’s games in the Gold Cup in July, a tournament in which they reached the quarter-finals.

They are now aiming to qualify for the World Cup finals or the first time since France 1998, their only appearance at that stage of the competition.

Johnson will be back in the country early next week, allowing him to rest and then resume training with North End in the build-up to the next Championship match at Bristol City on September 11.

PNE’s international ranks have been swelled by the deadline-day signing of Ali McCann from St Johnstone.

The midfielder is a full Northern Ireland international with six caps.

His side of Tuesday night’s transfer to North End was conducted from Belfast where he was training with Northern Ireland ahead of three World Cup qualifiers.

McCann’s senior international debut came last November against Austria in the Nations League.

His first goal for them came in a 3-0 friendly win in Malta in May.

It will be next Thursday before McCann meets his new Preston team-mates, giving him only a short time to prepare for the Bristol City match.

There are seven league and cup games before the next international break, giving McCann plenty of opportunities to stake a claim.

Sepp van den Berg is away with the Holland Under-21s squad for one Euro 2023 qualifier next week.

It is the on-loan Liverpool defender’s first call-up to the Dutch team in that age group.

First-year professional Lewis Coulton is in Scotland’s Under-19s squad for a training camp, while scholar Josh Seary is training with Republic of Ireland’s Under-19s at Loughborough University this week.

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