With 2010 World Cup qualifiers just around the corner, response to senior national football team training has so far been met with apathy - with only a handful of players showing up for last Saturday's practice at PHC.

Only ten players - from a proposed 66-member training squad - turned up for the national team's last training session, and due to the alarmingly poor response Bermuda Football Association (BFA) have now contemplated scrapping Saturday training sessions all together.

"On Saturday we knew we would only have about a dozen players out in training. There were some who are adventists (Seventh Day) while half-a-dozen others either had to work or had personal commitments," was BFA technical committee chairman Mark Trott's explanation for the low turnout.

National coach Keith Tucker could not be reached for comment.

Bermuda were pitted against Cayman Island in the first round of World Cup qualifiers during Sunday's draw in South Africa, with the eventual winners of that clash set to meet 2006 World Cup debutants Trinidad and Tobago.

Trott hopes the draw and prospect of the Island hosting international friendlies next month will lure players back out and bolster numbers in training.

"I think the World Cup draw will galvanise the players to now be focused and eventually those that really want to represent Bermuda in the World Cup qualifiers will come out to training," he said. "It's just a matter of confirming matches at the international level and right now we (BFA) are in heavy discussions with three countries to arrange matches for the 14th and 16th of December."

Last week newly installed national coach Tucker expressed a burning desire to ignite the Island's 2010 World Cup bid on home soil - a vision Trott shares.

"We want to jump start our World Cup campaign in front of the home crowd so that the Bermuda public can really get behind their team," Trott said.

Like BFA president Larry Mussenden, Trott is "optimistic" Bermuda can rise to meet the upcoming World Cup challenges - but refuses to take anything for granted.

"I think it's a very interesting draw but you cannot begin counting your chickens before they hatch. Football is a very funny game and so we are not going to look beyond Cayman Island. Instead we are going to go on the field (against Cayman Island) and look to get the result we want and then focus on the next opponent. If we look beyond Cayman then we could be asking for trouble."

Despite the giant steps Trinidad have taken on the world stage in recent years, Trott believes Bermuda can still overcome their Caribbean rivals should they negotiate the first hurdle and get past Cayman Islands.

"I think if we advance past Cayman Island then playing against Trinidad would present us with a more reasonable chance of advancing because we already know the calibre of players they have," he said. "Trinidad is a team that we are already familiar with . . . we already know what they bring to the table while there's always the chance of Dwight Yorke playing.

"Trinidad have a bunch of professional players and so you just have to believe in the David versus Goliath story and take your chances. At the end of the day you have to go on the pitch and give it all you got and let the chips fall wherever they may."