Jamaica?s Under-23 national squad will be put to their sternest test to date when they take on professional outfit New England Revolution at the National Sports Centre tonight.

With a team roster boasting an average age of 20, the youthful held Bermuda?s senior national team to a 1-1 draw at the NSC on Thursday night to launch their brief tour of the Island on a positive note.

However, the young Jamaicans will have to quickly elevate their game if they are to reap similar success against a Revolution side sporting four World Cup-bound players in Clint Dempsey, Pat Noonan, Matt Reis and Taylor Twellman, a point coach Wendell Downswell hammered home during a lengthy team meeting yesterday.

?Normally I don?t talk for such a long time,? the former Jamaica national team player smiled. ?But we had them together for an extended period of time to get them to understand they are making a transition because Under-20 and Under-23s is two different kettles of fish.

?Tonight will be a very stern test for us and so now our players must understand they are playing against mature players and so therefore they must start equipping themselves and make every exercise and every cap a learning experience.?

The Jamaicans will certainly have their work cut out when they come up against the 2005 Major League Soccer Eastern Conference champions, who remain unbeaten at the Sports Centre in four matches.

The Revs defeated Bermuda 3-0 in their tour opener seven days ago and were held to a scoreless draw against Costa Rica?s LD Alauelense in a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final first leg clash in midweek.

Downswell, a former team-mate of North Village?s Donavan Livingston, is optimistic his charges will give a good account of themselves and gain valuable experience.

?We will compete to our best. But the exposure is the key factor in this match, especially with these players we have here,? he said. ?This will be an excellent exercise and a tremendous experience in terms of the learning process.?

Jamaica will also use tonight?s match as a warm-up for April?s Pan American Games qualifiers against Surinam and Dominican Republic.

?Our intention is to qualify there (Pan-Am Games) and then move on to the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Columbia in late July where our intention is to medal for the first time in that tournament,? Downswell added.

?And we believe this team has the capacity to medal and we are looking very much forward to this. For the first time ever in Jamaica we have a programme with a very high percentage of retention level as it relates to Under-20s.?

New England coach Steve Nicol attended Thursday night?s match at the NSC to get a better feel for what the Jamaicans might bring to the table.

?They have a couple of big, strong, fast guys and a few others who can play and so we expect a tough game,? the former Liverpool utility player told .

?But we will go out there and and try to concentrate and be as committed as we have been in our two previous matches against Bermuda and Alauelense.?