Kemar Lawrence will get his kicks in with the Jamaica national team and not with the Red Bulls Saturday. (Troy Wayrynen/USA TODAY Sports)

One thing is certain: Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch will be looking for able-bodied defenders when his team takes on FC Dallas come Saturday.

That’s because New York will be down three backline players due to World Cup qualifying.

Left back Kemar Lawrence became the latest “casualty” when he joined Jamaica for the international friendly against Canada in Toronto Saturday. Lawrence was part of the Reggae Boyz side that eliminated the Canadians from the CONCACAF Gold Cup last month via a 2-1 result in the quarterfinals.

Lawrence started last Friday’s 1-1 draw against New York City FC along with Panama international defenders Michael Murillo and Fidel Escobar, who also have been called into their national side for two World Cup qualifiers Friday and Tuesday.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.