( l - r ) Damion Stewart, Whitmore

Reggae Boyz central defender Damion 'Stew Peas' Stewart says he has no ill feelings towards head coach Theodore Whitmore, who axed him from the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States, and only recently decided to give him a recall.

"That's a thing of the past, and I would not like to go back there," said Stewart, during a meet and greet session with the media at the Jamaica Football Federation offices on Tuesday.

"He was the coach and did what he thought was in the best interest of the team. These things do happen from time to time in the life of a professional footballer.

"However, it is how you respond, and for me it was a learning experience," he added.

The 31-year-old, who was recalled for the Boyz' international friendly against New Zealand, in February, after a near three-year absence, was sent home from the Gold Cup after missing the team's flight to event, and getting into a dispute with members of the coaching staff.

breaches

The incident, which came days after Stewart was fined for breaches of the team's disciplinary code during the team's one-week pre-Gold Cup training camp in the Cayman Islands, according to Whitmore at the time, was the proverbial feather that broke the camel's back.

However, Stewart, who made his debut for Jamaica one year after the team participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, says bygones are bygones and the focus right now is to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

"We are just sticking to what we have to do right now, which is to focus on the programme, and the World Cup qualifiers," he said.

"The core of the players in the squad are very talented and the hope is that we can individually and as a team put things together."

Stewart, who has in the past plied his trade with Harbour View, Bradford City, Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City, and now Notts County, is one of several defenders, who are hoping to tie down one of the central defenders spots in the team's "Mission to Rio" campaign.

Some of the others include Crawley Town's Claude Davis, the Watford pair of Nyron Nosworthy and Adrian Mariappa, Jermaine Taylor, Shavar Thomas and Adrian Reid.

Jamaica will face Guyana in an international friendly today at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, beginning at 8 p.m.