​No fatigue for returning Hatters defender Bell despite reaching Gold Cup semi-final with Jamaica

​​Town defender Amari’i Bell isn’t feeling any effects of fatigue despite his ‘non-stop’ off season after featuring in the Gold Cup for Jamaica recently.

Following a campaign in which the 29-year-old made 48 appearances in total for the Hatters, 47 of them starts, he also then played every single minute of Town’s play-off campaign and extra-time Wembley triumph over Coventry City as well.

He did allow himself to take in the celebrations properly, but from there, it was a trip to Austria to meet up with his country, feature in a friendly against Qatar and then fly out to America for the tournament itself.

There, Bell played four matches for his country, taking his appearances up to 57 in total, as after a short break, he returned to the Brache last week to link up with his Luton team-mates once more, getting his first run-out in the 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Asked how he was able to put the tiredness behind him, he said: “Fatigue-wise, I don't think I feel fatigue any more, I just go past it all the time!

“I’m feeling quite good and ready to get stuck in, so I'm glad to be back.

"It's been really good, going from the play-offs to the tournament it’s been non-stop, but it’s been enjoyable.

"I'm still reliving the play-off final moments in my head which are amazing.

"I just wanted to enjoy the moment as you don't experience this all the time.

"I thought I'm going to enjoy the celebrations and when they're done I’m going to go to Jamaica, work hard with them to try and succeed with them.

“We had a training camp on the 12th of June, so we spent a week in Austria, then we flew to the States and that's where we played the tournament.”

After heading out on international duty, Bell was back in action just over a fortnight later, playing 90 minutes of the 2-1 friendly defeat to Qatar.

Moving to America for the tournament itself, the defender started Jamaica's first game against the USA, taken off in the second half with what thankfully turned out to be a slight knock.

An unused sub in the 4-1 victory over Trinidad & Tobago, Bell was then restored to the starting line-up for the 5-0 victory against St Kitts and Nevis, as the Reggae Boyz eased through the group stages.

Town’s wingback bagged the winner as Jamaica saw off Guatemala to reach the last four, only to end up losing 3-0 to eventual winners Mexico.

On his efforts and scoring a maiden international goal, Bell continued: “I was on top of the world, winning the play-off final, going to Jamaica, I was just so confident that this is going to be our tournament and we're going to win it.

"It didn't go that way, but it was still a great experience and also scoring my first goal in the quarter-final, it was the decisive goal in the game so I was buzzing with that.

"They know my quality, once I got there time just stood still.

"I had time to compose myself and put it where I wanted it and it worked out that way, so I was glad.”

Although Jamaica couldn’t quite reach a third final in their history, asked if getting as far as they did represented a successful competition, Bell added: “No, we were all disappointed as we knew we could beat Mexico, but I just thought on the day they were the better side and we didn't quite get to our levels.

“It was definitely disappointing, as the quality we had in the squad, the amount of Premier League boys, some of the guys in the MLS and other players in Europe, It's a great team and we just need to keep building on it.

"It's the same but different, (Luton and Jamaica).

"Over there it's a lot more dancing, the vibe is a little bit different, but the close spirit of the squad is like here as well.”