Bermuda striker Kyle Lightbourne hopes to regain his place in the Stoke City first team tonight when the Potters entertain Barnsley in the English League Cup.

But competition for places in the Second Division side's front line became tougher as of yesterday when the club signed Icelandic forward Rickhardur Dadason.

Lightbourne was one of the players dropped by Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson after City went down 3-0 to the Bermudian's former club, Walsall, a week ago.

Stoke bounced back by beating Bournemouth 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium last Saturday, with Lightbourne denied even a place on the bench.

Dadason was recruited from Norwegian club Viking Stavanger, whose season finished with the Norwegian Cup final on Sunday, and although the formalities of the deal were still being dealt with yesterday, the club hoped to gain international clearance in time for him to play tonight.

Dadason's arrival added to Stoke's list of strikers, which includes Peter Thorne and Stefan Thordarson as well as Lightbourne.

Lightbourne was nevertheless confident he could win back his place.

"I've been playing quite well and I'm confident I can win my place back,'' Lightbourne told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"It's no surprise that Dadason has come here -- he signed actually agreed to sign in the summer -- and he's expected to go into the team. It's not just competition for me, it's competition for everyone else too.'' As for his omission from the team for the Bournemouth match, Lightbourne felt he had paid the price for for a poor team performance at Walsall.

"We lost 3-0 at Walsall and the manager just felt he had to change things around and I was one of the changes,'' he said. "Now I'll just have to see how it goes.'' The 31-year-old ended last season in superb form as Stoke finished strongly and reached the promotion play-offs, only to lose at Gillingham one match short of the Wembley final.

Lightbourne has carried on this season where he left off and has capped some impressive performances by scoring three league goals so far.

When reporters asked Thordarson about the surprising omission of Lightbourne from the Bournemouth match, the manager replied rather cryptically: "There have been a lot of comings and goings on the bench recently with different strikers.'' And he refused to elaborate.

As for tonight's cup tie against the First Division Tykes, Lightbourne felt it would not be easy, even with the home advantage.

"It will be a tough match, but I would rate our chances at about 50-50,'' said Lightbourne. "We are quite good at home and if we can get at them early and the crowd get going we can do well.'' Stoke reached the third round by defeating Third Division York City 5-1 on aggregate and then, in another two-legged tie, they saw off Premier League Charlton Athletic in a major upset.

The Potters won the home leg against the Londoners 2-1 and then lost a remarkable second leg 4-3 after extra-time at The Valley to advance on the away goals rule. Tonight's match is a one-off tie, improving Stoke's chances of reaching round four.

And the cash generated by a successful cup run could be crucial to the club's future, judging by comments this week made by Magnus Kristinsson, chairman of Stoke Holding who own 60 percent of the club.

Kristinsson suggested there was no more money available for the manager to spend.

Stoke's league form this term has been inconsistent, something Lightbourne was quick to concede.

"As a team, it's been a stop-start season so far,'' said the striker. "We win a game or two then we lose a game and I just hope we can really get going soon.'' Stoke are currently eighth in the Second Division table -- well within striking distance of the top-six promotion play-off zone -- having won six, drawn five and lost three matches so far.

Kyle Lightbourne: dropped last weekend and facing increased competition at Second Division Stoke following the signing yesterday of a new striker.