Bermudian striker Kyle Lightbourne expects to be a part of the Coventry first team squad when the new English football season kicks off this weekend.

Lightbourne has played in all of the club's pre-season friendly matches which included three in Scotland and another on Sunday when they beat Dutch team Feyenoord 2-1 at home, the Bermudian seeing 70 minutes of action.

"They (Feyenoord) are a top quality team and are going to be playing in the Champions League so for us to beat them 2-1 was good,'' said Lightbourne yesterday.

In Scotland, Coventry beat Airdrie 3-0, Dunfermline 1-0 and Hibernian 2-0. At the Hibernian match, Lightbourne met up with Bermudian cricketer Del Hollis who recently returned to his club in Scotland.

The real test for Lightbourne, who has yet to score for his new club, comes this weekend when the season kicks off.

"If all goes well this week I should definitely be in the squad,'' he said.

"To be honest things are going really well...better than I expected. All the players have accepted me. I'm getting along with them and I feel part of the set-up.

"Yesterday was the first time we have played at home and the fans gave me a good reception. I had a couple of letters from fans wishing me the best.'' Coventry kick off their Premier League season with a home match against FA Cup champions Chelsea and two days later meet another London team, Arsenal, in a televised match that will be seen live in Bermuda.

Lightbourne will seal his transfer from Second Division Walsall today when he appears before an independent tribunal at the Wolverhampton ground along with the chairmen of the two clubs.

Lightbourne will have some questions directed at him as the tribunal goes through the process of deciding how much Coventry should pay Walsall after the two clubs failed to agree on a transfer fee.

Coventry have signed six new players during the summer -- a goalkeeper, defender, two midfielders and two strikers -- and they start the season with high expectations.

"It's a good squad and things are looking quite good, especially when we didn't lose any matches in pre-season,'' said the 28-year-old Lightbourne.

"We only gave away one goal, so that's encouraging.'' Lightbourne has been playing alongside Dion Dublin in the Coventry attack in the friendly matches in which both Darren Huckerby and Noel Whelan suffered injuries.

"I'm looking forward to it. It's a good challenge for me,'' said Lightbourne of the upcoming season. "I don't feel out of place. It's just a matter of getting my first goal and going from there.

"I've been very close to scoring. I hit the crossbar twice and had two headers cleared off the line.''