Marlon King, the striker sidelined by sacked technical director Rene Simoes, revealed yesterday that he, too, was unsure of why he was left out of the Jamaican squad for subsequent World Cup Qualifying games, but made it clear that he did not have a personal confrontation with the Brazilian.

King, 28, has however, admitted that he did express his disappointment to Simoes during the country's first World Cup Qualifier against the Bahamas on June 15 at the National Stadium, after being substituted in the 69th minute by Deon Burton, a hero of the 1998 World Cup team.

Undoubtedly Jamaica's premier striker, King was an unused substitute during the return leg, as Jamaica romped to a 13-0 aggregate win.

The Hull City striker, who scored a brace on Saturday to lead his English Premiership side to a surprise 2-1 win over Newcastle, has not been considered since then, fuelling speculations about a rift between himself and technical boss.

Speaking yesterday on KLAS Sport magazine programme Scoreboard, King said he didn't have any "personal confrontation" with the Brazilian coach, but like what is normal everywhere else, he said players are free to express an opinion or make suggestions to their coaches.
"And that's all I did," said King.

"I just said (to Simoes) that I was disappointed," he added, regarding his playing time.

When asked about his interest to re-join the Reggae Boyz for their upcoming assignments, King responded in the affirmative.

"I'm always ready. Whenever called upon I'm always there," he said.

Simoes was fired after Jamaica lost 0-2 to Honduras on September 10, leaving the team with only a mathematical chance of qualifying, having just a point from three games.
Jamaica are at the bottom of the four-team Group B CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Semi-Final Round, trailing leaders Mexico with maximum nine points and Honduras with six points. Canada are also on one point.