Jensen Rogers has warned coaches of his Dudley Eve Trophy semi-final rivals that his Somerset Trojans are determined to cause another shock by defending their title.

After upsetting the odds last season when coming out on top of a five-goal thriller to dethrone Devonshire Cougars, Trojans find themselves just one game away from a second successive final.

Standing in their way are North Village, with the teams pitted against one another in the semi-final draw yesterday. Cougars will face Hamilton Parish in the remaining encounter, with both matches scheduled to take place at PHC Field on October 25.

Despite being defending champions, Rogers is aware his side will be viewed as underdogs but has warned they pose a threat to whomever they face.

“I’m actually really pleased with the draw and we’re all looking forward to it,” said Rogers, whose side battled back from a goal down to knock out PHC in the previous round.

“We played the other sides in the group stage and so it’s nice to play someone different.”

“Village are a very strong team with a quality coach in Kenny Thompson and so we’ll look forward to the challenge of facing them. I would definitely say we are still considered the underdogs among the teams left in the competition.

“Village are probably looking at the draw and are feeling pretty happy about facing us, but what I’d say is we’re in the semi-finals for a reason and we’re also champions for a reason.

“We’re a definitely capable of beating any team on our day and that’s the thing about this competition, it’s a one-off match.

“We showed last year that we can cause shocks and go all the way and so I’m sure Village are aware of the danger we pose.”

While the Dudley Eve Trophy is viewed by many as less prestigious than the league and FA Cup, Rogers is adamant everyone at the club is desperate to further their affinity with the competition.

“As a club we love this competition,” he added. “If you can enjoy some success then it brings a good feeling around the club.

“Every year we want to go as far as possible and now we’re at this stage, you have to dream of getting to that final and winning it.

“Others might look at it at a lesser competition, but it's a trophy and we want to win it again. We’re defending champions and to lift the trophy again would mean a lot to the club.

“Clubs like ours have a history of winning trophies and so we want to go out and win everything that we can. Everyone at the club wants trophies; it’s in our DNA.”

The fixture will also throw up an interesting subplot with Trojans coming up against former players Daion Swan-DeSilva and D’Andre Wainwright, who scored from the spot to help the club lift the title last season.

“D’Andre is a very talented player who has made a good start to the season already,” said Rogers on the potential reunion with the striker.

“Obviously it was hard seeing a player like him go, but I’m also pleased to see him doing well.

“It will be good to see him as well as Daion again, because while you don’t want players leaving the club, you still want them to do well once they decide to move on, just not against us.”