English League players, Crystal Palace midfielder Paul Ifill and Doncaster Rovers' striker Mark McCammom, have been ruled out of Barbados' upcoming two-match tour of Bermuda, The Royal Gazette can confirm.

Barbados coach Eyre Sealy revealed yesterday that the pair - two of his team's highest profile players - wouldn't be arriving in Bermuda later this week but was confident the 'Bajan Pride' could still get positive results in their absences against the Island's senior national squad at the National Sports Centre (NSC) on June 6 and 9.

"It's not really necessary to look at players who we already know can perform such as Paul (Ifill) - especially after a long season in England," said Sealy. "Even though we don't have those players, we still need to look at others.

"We need to get a good look at some of the other players and so we will be mixing in a few extra players to have a good look at them. And if we can get all of the pieces to fit together, then we should do reasonably well against Bermuda."

Barbados are due to meet regional powerhouse the USA in World Cup qualifiers later this month and will undoubtedly look to get themselves in a good rhythm and right frame of mind before they arrive in Los Angeles for their opening Cup qualifying match against the Americans June 14.

Bermuda, meanwhile, are using the two matches against Barbados as warm-ups for their own World Cup two-leg qualifier against Trinidad later this month.

"We are coming to try and fine tune our preparations and look to do a good job when we get to the States," Sealy added.

"It's very important that we do very well in the two games against Bermuda.

"We must do very well in those games which will give us some confidence and assurance that what we are doing, we are doing correctly."

The 2007 Caribbean Cup finalists went undefeated on their previous visit to Bermuda in 2003 but were held to a 1-1 stalemate in their own backyard against Kyle Lightbourne's 2006 Digicel Cup squad.

"We haven't really done any research on Bermuda because we are mainly focusing on the United States," said Sealy. "But we are quite familiar with the way Bermuda play and so we are reasonably prepared to play them."

Barbados arrive on the Island on Thursday night - less than 24 hours before they lock horns with Bermuda at the NSC.

"It is a bit of a tight squeeze to prepare for the match," Sealy said. "But we will make the adjustment and get ourselves ready."

Like their opponents, Bermuda will also be looking to gain some momentum ahead of their clash against 2006 World Cup final debutants Trinidad.

Since returning from a mini-training camp in England earlier this month, national coach Kenny Thompson has been putting his charges through their paces at the NSC in preparation for Barbados and beyond.

And like his opposite number Sealy, Thompson has placed high expectations on his players.

"We are expecting the players to be very motivated to put on a good performance in order to achieve a good result," he said. "Barbados are one of the stronger countries (in the region) and a difficult opponent to play against.

"They will be very motivated to reach as high a level as possible in preparation for the matches against the US. And so these are important matches for us because such opponents will put us in good stead in preparation for Trinidad."