Mystery surrounds the omission of two of the Island?s leading players from Bermuda?s travelling squad this week.

Meshach Wade, arguably the Island?s most influential player in the 13-0 first leg thrashing of Montserrat and a former captain, and goalkeeper Dwayne (Streaker) Adams are both missing from the side which will contest the second leg in this tiny Caribbean island tomorrow.

And as of yesterday, nobody in the travelling party was saying exactly why. Coach Kenny Thompson, preferring to talk about other issues, simply explained that Wade and Adams had been left behind for ?personal reasons?, but declined to elaborate. ?We brought the strongest squad that was available,? said Thompson. ?Meshach and Dwayne were not available due to personal reasons from their standpoint.?

The two senior players withdrew from the squad at the 11th hour with Adams citing ?personal reasons? for the decision not to travel to Montserrat.

?The reason why I decided not to travel to Montserrat are personal and nothing the public needs to know about. It was more of a timely conflict than anything else in terms of dates wise. ? he said.

Wade, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment.

With Adams missing, Troy Hall, who barely touched the ball during the first leg last month, is the only goalkeeper in the squad, Thompson having felt no need to draft in a second ?keeper.

?I pretty much know the starting eleven at this point although I won?t confirm it until tomorrow,? said Thompson. ?We?ll do the game justice by putting out what I consider our strongest team available. ?Now the preparation is over, this is the real thing. We?re trying to build some consistency and continuity in the team. So it?s important that we try to get a regular starting eleven but at the same time try to develop players as well that can come in should some first choice players be unavailable.?

Thompson called off training yesterday in order to allow the players to rest after a long, arduous journey which saw the party leave Bermuda early morning on Thursday and not arrive in Antigua until the early hours of Friday ? the players then managed just three or four hours? sleep before rushing to catch the only ferry of the day from Antigua to Montserrat at 6.30 a.m.

Ferry and helicopter are currently the only means of transport to this volcano-ravaged island, which has yet to open a new airport following the destruction caused by the eruption in July 1997.