Bermuda?s Under-20 national football squad have stepped up their preparations for this month?s Under-20 World Cup second round qualifiers in Haiti.

After winning their group convincingly to advance to the next round, Bermuda will be faced with a tougher challenge this time around, having been pencilled in against regional powerhouses Haiti and Jamaica as well as Netherlands Antilles in Group G.

The Island?s youngsters are again being put through their paces by national coach Kyle Lightbourne and assistant Paul Scope at the National Sports Centre, with the exception of a few players who are abroad in college.

Bermuda depart for the Caribbean on October 22 where they meet Netherlands Antilles on October 24, hosts Haiti on October 26 and Jamaica on October 28.

And although the Island?s young stars stand a realistic chance of advancing, assistant coach Scope admits the road they will have to travel will be a tough one.

?It will be tough with Jamaica and Haiti being the favourites. But we need to take care of Netherlands Antilles in the first game and see how the Haiti versus Jamaica games goes,? Scope told .

?We will need to take points off either Haiti or Jamaica or both to qualify as one of the top two teams in the group.

?We are in the last eight of the Caribbean already, trying to get into the last four, which will be a heck of an achievement.?

The top three of the final four then go through to join two qualifiers from Central America (Guatemala and Costa Rica), plus USA and host nations Panama and Mexico.

Scope continued: ?Whilst it was a tremendous effort to top the group in St.Croix, we will have to continue to improve to get through a group with Haiti and Jamaica in it.

?We believe this group of players do have the potential to improve, but we are emphasising how much an effort needs to be put in to achieve just that.

?The team is back in full training, and will continue on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Sports Centre until we leave on Sunday, October 22.?

And with the senior national team holding their own in the Digicel Cup, Scope reckons that success will eventually filter down throughout the ranks.

?We would like to think that the senior team?s success in St.Thomas is inspirational to the Under-20 squad,? he said.

?The young guys should be thinking of playing really well to get a shot at getting into the senior team.?

Youngsters such as Keishen Bean and Reggie Baker both accompanied the senior national team in the US Virgin Islands late last month.

?Several of the Under-20 squad voluntarily trained with the senior national squad when we were preparing for the Digicel Cup,? Scope added.

?So the future of Bermuda football is bright and certainly success at any level by our national teams is extremely important, as are the plans for the Island Soccer League ISL) and United Soccer League (USL).

?There is a lot more to play for than a year ago and just having the senior and the Under-20s active and in training improves things. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going even when the campaigns are over this time.

?And from what I saw on Tuesday night (Martonmere Cup) and what I heard about last weekend?s games (league openers), the domestic programme has also got off to a promising start.

?Good football, good crowds and no trouble. Long may it continue.?