Hart promises roster changes ahead of next World Cup qualifier

Canada scored seven times over the course of two wins that opened up the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup.

Still, coach Stephen Hart made it clear in a conference call Thursday that he’s far from satisfied after a nervous but efficient 4-1 win over St. Lucia at BMO Field and a 3-0 road win over Puerto Rico.

Hart said there are a “couple of areas” where Canada needs to improve, and he will make roster changes ahead of the next couple of qualifiers. But he won’t say exactly what the problem spots are.

“I’m not going to do scouting for people (the opposition),” Hart said.

Hart also admitted that some of his first-choice players weren’t available due to injury or personal issues and that he would want to reintroduce them to the side. For example, Marcel De Jong, who plays in the Bundesliga with Augsburg, wasn’t available due to a family issue.

“We know where we need to improve,” said Hart.

One issue of concern is the attack. Even though Hart got goals from Iain Hume, Simeon Jackson, Tosaint Ricketts and Josh Simpson — showing that Canada’s offence is more than Dwayne De Rosario — he made it clear that he feels Canada should have bagged more than seven goals in the two games, especially more than the four at home to St. Lucia.

“It was nice to spread the scoring around,” he said. “It will make it a little more difficult for the opposition to isolate one player. It’s good for the confidence of the players. But, we could be, in all honesty, more clinical with the chances we had.”

But he said there was significant progress made in the wake of a disappointing Gold Cup.

“Some of the playing relationships look like they are coming together.”