Blues defender Janoi Donacien is set to make his international debut with Saint Lucia on Saturday.

The 29-year-old was born in Castries, the capital of the Caribbean island, before moving to the UK when he was seven.

But despite his background being well-known, the former Accrington Stanley man hasn’t received a call-up until now.

The Saint Lucians, who are managed by former Town striker Stern John, face Martinque in a CONCACAF Gold Cup first preliminary round game at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale in the early hours of Saturday and are currently training in Miami.

“It’s been brilliant to be out here with the boys,” Donacien told the club site. “To represent your country is obviously something any football player would be proud of, so to have that opportunity now is great for me and my family.

“We have had a camp in Miami and then we have a tough game at the weekend against a good side, but it will be a brilliant experience and hopefully we can progress.

“We had a brilliant season with Ipswich and to win promotion with the boys was an incredible experience. It was good to have a break at the beginning of the summer but now I’m really excited to be representing Saint Lucia.”

Saint Lucia would face another preliminary round game next week against either Suriname or Puerto Rico should they win on Saturday in order to claim a place at the finals which are being held in Canada and the US from June 24th to July 16th.

Donacien will become Town's second Saint Lucia international, their all-time top scorer Earl Jean having spent a short spell with George Burley's Blues in 1996/97, making one sub appearance without finding the net.

Photo: TWTD

NthQldITFC added 12:11 - Jun 15 That's excellent news. I'm not sure that I can think of a Town player who I'd be more pleased for to see getting that sort of recognition right now. Top man Janoi.
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Ipswich1977 added 12:15 - Jun 15 Amazing to think it's never happened for JD before now
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LegendofthePhoenix added 12:26 - Jun 15 Absolutely delighted for JD, and really proud of him - yet another example of international recognition of our crop of hugely talented players. Hope he has a great game.
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ThaiBlue added 19:16 - Jun 15 Well deserved top guy
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 07:07 - Jun 16 I would guess that the reason this is JD's first call-up is travel costs. It's a minnow and usually have no chance to advance to anything meaningful (or with a payday). Wouldn't surprise me if he, or someone else, is paying.
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