Shaun Goater is urging Bermudians to turn out in droves tonight to show Southend ?how passionate we are about football?.

Kyle Lightbourne?s side will take on the touring League Championship team at the National Sports Centre with Goater appearing at the start of both halves for the two teams as well as a brief cameo at the end of the game.

The match has been billed as a tribute for Goater?s contribution to Southend?s League One title campaign but will also prove a useful match for both sides.

The national team ? who will be coached by assistant Paul Scope as Lightbourne is off to the World Cup in Germany ? will have few opportunities to play ahead of their Digicel Cup trip to Santo Domingo while this will be the Shrimpers first match of a long pre-season.

And Goater is hoping for a big crowd for the game, as much for Southend as for himself.

?It will be good for them to play in front of a decent crowd,? said Goater, who will be watching the Italy-Ukraine World Cup quarter-final at 4 p.m. today ? ?even if it goes to extra-time and penalties?.

?They have come a long way for this tour and it would be nice if the crowd come out to see the game. I would like to think there would be about 2,000 or so.?

Goater trained on Wednesday night with the national squad ? his first serious exercise since returning home.

?I think I forgot about the Bermuda temperatures and humidity,? joked Goater.

?I lasted the whole session, but only just. The first few minutes I ran around like a headless chicken and then I realised that I need to change my technique a little bit.

?I ain?t playing 90 minutes tonight, I can tell you that.?

And nor will any of the Southend players play as manager Steve Tilson looks to protect his players from the heat.

His team trained twice yesterday, jogging over the Causeway from Grotto Bay to Kindley Field to do some ballwork and then back again.

?I am quietly pleased with the boys,? said a sweaty Tilson after the second training session.

?They have come back in good shape and they have worked hard. Obviously it?s very hot here but we have been training early and late and that seems to have worked out well.

?In terms of the game, I am going to use all 20 players. It?s early in pre-season, so we are not going to want to risk anyone so soon.

?We are just going to go out there and play our natural game, but I think we will be trying to make sure we keep possession: you don?t want to be running around trying to get the ball back for 45 minutes in this heat.?

Tilson also hinted that any Bermuda players particularly impressing could potentially earn a spot in his side ? ?we are always looking out for players, particularly strikers so we will be keeping an eye out.?

The Bermuda squad have been in training over the past few weeks, although Lightbourne and Scope have been working more with the Under-20 side ahead of their imminent World Cup campaign, although only a couple of the youngsters will be risked in tonight?s squad.

Around five of the players from the New England Revolution game ? Bermuda?s last appearance ? will play with the backbone of the squad comprising the older heads such as Maurice Lowe, Stephen Astwood, Kwame Steede and Vernon Tankard.

There will be a debut for Tankard?s younger brother, Devrae, while youngsters Logan Alexander and Tyrell Burgess are expected to play.

?We haven?t had as much preparation time as we would have liked,? said Scope, who arrived back on the Island on Wednesday from Germany.

?We have been doing a lot of work with the Under-20s but I think we still go into this game in good shape. We are playing against pros and I imagine they are going to be holding on to the ball a lot but maybe the humidity will take its toll.

?It will be interesting to see what sort of level they are at. Shaun (Goater) and I have been debating for the last couple of years how New England Revolution would compare to the likes of Southend so we will find that out tonight.

?I am happy with our squad, we have some young guys and some of the more experienced guys ? and there is always the incentive that a good game could lead to something more with Southend.?

And Scope is hoping to see a big crowd turn out for a match that he helped organise over four visits to Southend and multiple meetings with the club?s chairman Ron Martin and manager Tilson.

?I am delighted this game is going ahead,? added Scope.

?It?s great for Shaun and I hope the Bermuda public come out and give him the send-off he deserves.?

The game kicks off at 7.30 p.m.: Timmy Figureido, Logan Alexander, Robert Wilson, Maurice Lowe, Devrae Tankard, Domico Coddington, Kwame Steede, Stephen Astwood, Vernon Tankard, Darius Cox, Shaun Goater, Jahnai Raynor, Tyrell Burgess, Aljame Zuill.