JON RUSSELL scored again for Jamaica this week and is set to play in their equivalent of the European Championships from next week.

The Barnsley midfielder has been involved with the Reggae Boyz in their two World Cup qualifiers this week and is also in Steve McClaren’s squad for the CONCACAF Gold Cup which starts on Sunday.

Jamaica won 1-0 at British Virgin Islands on Saturday in a World Cup game, with Russell starting.

They then beat Guatemala 3-0 on Tuesday evening, with Russell heading in the opening goal.

They are now set to travel to the United States for the Gold Cup, which is also being hosted in Canada.

Jamaica are set to play Guatemala for the second time in a week on Tuesday then face Guadeloupe – who have ex-Red Dimitri Cavare in their squad – the following Saturday before completing their group games against Panama.

The first two fixtures are in California and the third in Texas.

Russell scored 11 goals for Barnsley from midfield last season, including five in his last five games, and has a year remaining on his contract.

He is one of four players with Reds connections in the Jamaica squad for the Gold Cup.

The others are Dexter Lembikisa – who spent the second half of last season on loan at Oakwell from Wolverhampton Wanderers – plus Barnsley academy product Mason Holgate and Reds promotion-winner Ethan Pinnock.

Russell is likely to miss a large portion of his club’s pre-season schedule, depending on how far his national team get in the competition.

The group stages run until June 24 – the day after Barnsley return for pre-season training – and the final is on July 6.

Meanwhile, Jacob Devaney – who is from Barnsley – made his debut for Republic of Ireland under 21s.

The 17-year-old, who is the son of former Reds player and coach Martin Devaney, is at Manchester United.

He came on in the 1-0 friendly loss to Croatia then started a 0-0 draw with Qatar.