Jamaica?s Under-23 national squad will be aiming to make their presence felt when they arrive in Bermuda on February 22 to play two matches against New England Revolution and Bermuda?s national team.

The young Reggae Boyz will use the tour as preparation for their participation in April?s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Surinam. And the Digicel Cup champions are expected to arrive with a 25-member entourage containing several players already with senior national team experience under their belts, among them captain Jermaine Taylor, midfielders Nicholi Sinlayson and Mario Harrison and top striker Luton Shelton.

?Our goal is to play enterprising and entertaining football and these matches are of the utmost importance to our CAC Games preparations,? said Jamaican Under-23 coach and former senior national team striker Wendell Donnswell. ?These are two very tough assignments that we are looking forward to.?

Donnswell, 47, has coached at the Jamaican national level for the past 15 years and toured Europe twice with the Caribbean island?s Under-23 squad.

?This is serious business and we are looking very much forward to the upcoming assignment because we want to medal at the CAC Games and 2007 Pan American Games and of course the 2008 Olympic Games,? explained Donnswell.

?Our preparations will take us right along up to the 2010 World Cup campaign.?

Jamaica?s Under-23 team last toured Bermuda in December, 2002, when they defeated North Village 2-1, drew 3-3 against Devonshire Colts and were then beaten 2-1 by a Meshach Wade-led Bermuda Select on the ?carpet? in a match honouring late Bermuda Football Association administrator Dudley Eve.

?This team has been playing together for an extended period of time and been to Germany on two occasions and a number of these players have already paraded their skills at the senior national level and are regular starters with their national Premier League clubs in Jamaica,? Donnswell added.

?This team is an integral part of our youth development programme and what we actually do is complement some of the senior players with these players to form the core of the senior national team.

?So the experience and exposure they gain now is of the utmost importance to their personal development and also the development of the senior national unit.?

Major Soccer League (MSL) Eastern Conference champions New England ? who arrive on the Island on February 13 ? have yet to disclose their touring party.

The Boston club did, however, reveal late last week that a question mark hangs over Bermudian striker Khano Smith, who is still recovering from minor knee surgery last month.

The Revs take on Bermuda?s national squad in a friendly at the NSC on February 18 as preparation for their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final first leg match against Costa Rica?s LD Alauelense four days later at the same venue.

?We are appealing very much to the Bermuda public to come out in numbers and watch some entertaining football played in a festive atmosphere,? Donnswell added.

The BFA confirmed yesterday that Jamaica would play against New England on February 23 and Kyle Lightbourne?s senior national team on February 25.

The matches were originally scheduled for February 25 and 28 at the Sports Centre.