Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz will be without inspirational captain Khadija Shaw once again when they go into battle against the United States of America (USA) on June 3 as they continue preparations towards the World Cup qualifiers.

The 28-year-old Shaw, despite an injury-plagued season, finished joint top scorer in England with Arsenal’s Alessia Russo with 12 goals. Shaw achieved her tally from 14 games while Russo played 21 games.

Head coach Hubert Busby said it’s an opportunity for other players to step up to the plate as Shaw is still dealing with injuries.

“We have to do what’s best for her. Even with her not being able to finish off the last six games of the season, she ends up winning the Golden Boot, and you can see how valuable she is to Man City,” said Busby. “Definitely, she’s valuable to us, but as the old adage goes, the next woman up. Who else is going to step up now, in her absence? She’s a huge miss.”

Busby has named a 21-member Reggae Girlz squad and has left out Liverpool’s captain Taylor Hinds, and Natasha Thomas of Ipswich Town, who are still sorting out their passport and citizenship documents.

The goalkeeping trio are Sydney Schneider, Liya Brooks and Serena Mensah, but Busby is hoping to have Becky Spencer back for the England game.

The defenders are Chantelle Swaby, Allyson Swaby, Konya Plummer, Naya Cordoza and Vyan Sampson.

Six midfielders were named: Nyema Ingleton, Solai Washington, Amelia Van Zanten, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Atlanta Primus, and Deneisha Blackwood. The forwards were Kayla McKenna, Reanna Blades, Shania Hayles, Shaniel Buckley, Kameron Simmons, Kalyssa Van Zanten, and Jody Brown.

Busby reiterated the importance of these difficult International Friendly games as Jamaica have played the likes of France, South Africa and now will be facing the best team in the world in the United States, followed by England later in June.

These games are for us to be able to experiment and try things. We can’t do them in World Cup qualifiers,” he pointed out. “So, we have to be able to have this full picture of what it is. There are all these little puzzle pieces that we have to be able to put together that allow for us to see this finished product.”