Devonshire Cougars, will be trying to avoid another early cup defeat tonight when they meet Vasco in the Friendship Trophy at BAA Field.

The Trojans' best hope for silverware this season rests in the cup competitions as they are also trying to qualify for the Dudley Eve.

Presently they are fifth in the Premier Division and facing a must-win situation against Southampton Rangers on Sunday.

But their immediate focus will be Vasco, a team who, despite losing several players during the summer, are still showing themselves to be a difficult outfit to beat. On Sunday they climbed to third in the tables with victory over North Village at Bernard Park.

The Trojans, apart from their shock cup defeat to First Division Cougars, have also been fairly consistent this season, having lost just twice in the league.

They went close to handing PHC their first loss on Saturday before a last minute goal by Otis Steede earned the Zebras a 2-2 draw.

Vasco's Dwight Basden, who came on as substitute against Village, will be hoping for a starting role against his former Trojans team-mates tonight.

Otherwise Vasco, last season's beaten Friendship finalists, will probably stick with the same front line of Chris Anderson, Sinclair Gibbons and Irving Burgess.

Vasco will be hoping to have Keith Jennings and Diallo Sharrieff fit after both went off with injuries on Sunday. Jennings, however, is facing a suspension if he collects another yellow card.

St. George's and Paget will meet for the second time in three days when they clash in the 7.00 Shield match. St. George's reached the final of the Shield last year and will be looking for another good run in this competition. They should be favoured, having beaten Paget 3-0 on Sunday.