Bermuda?s senior national football squad is expected to undergo some fine-tuning ahead of Friday night?s one-off friendly against visiting Manchester City Youth Academy at the National Sports Centre.

Kyle Lightbourne?s squad returned to the Island on the weekend after suffering 4-0 and 1-0 losses against World Cup hopefuls Trinidad in the Caribbean last week.

Coach Lightbourne used those matches to blood several new youngsters, all of whom, he noted, responded admirably to the task.

?I was happy with all the young players as I thought they all did really well,? said Lightbourne yesterday.

?I am looking to groom the younger players and give them the opportunity to play if they continue to come out and train.?

Accompanying the national team to Trinidad last week were teenagers Kris Frick, Cecoy Robinson, Jahnai Raynor, Seion Darrell, Daniel Johnson, and Logan Alexander.

Lightbourne is now expected to include two additional teenagers, Tuarean Manders and Robert Richardson, in Friday?s squad while veteran striker Shaun Goater is also currently training with the team for this week?s assignment against City.

Recapping last week?s brief tour of the Caribbean, Lightbourne said: ?Obviously I always thought it would be sort of hit or miss in the first game. Sometimes you don?t know what to expect. But I thought that for 40 minutes of that particular game we did quite well. I was pleased by the manner in which the lads went about their job.

?They managed to close their opponents down and adhere to the system (3-5-2) that we played. I was very glad to see the players put some of the things we have been working on over the past six months put into practise.

?They are now beginning to believe in the system we are playing.?

Although Bermuda failed to score a single goal in Trinidad, Lightbourne was still encouraged by his team?s overall performance ? particularly the squad?s younger members.

?The most important thing is that they did themselves proud, especially in the second match,? he added. ?Trinidad were a very strong side and so I thought our lads did okay against them and with a little bit more luck in the second match might have pulled off a victory.

?We created quite a few chances in the first game but it was just a matter of not capitalising on them. In the second game we had at least five decent chances to score while Rohaan Simons hit the post.?

Lightbourne noted, however, that because of the short notice he was unable to take his strongest squad to Trinidad.

Professionals Goater, Khano Smith and John Barry Nusum were all missing due to other commitments.

?For some reason one way or the other someone is not available,? Lightbourne lamented. ?Every time you have a good team in mind something always seems to happen.?

However, with last week?s brief tour now behind him, the coach is looking forward to what he predicts will be a ?tough? outing against City on Friday night.

?These guys (City) are on the verge of becoming professional players,? he added. ?They have played at a higher level than most of our players and so I expect Friday to be a very difficult match for us.?

Khano Smith failed to make his full debut for Major League Soccer side the New England Revolution on Saturday, but for the fourth straight match was introduced as a second-half substitute, coming on in the 61st minute in the 0-0 draw against the Colorado Rapids.