Manchester City Youth Academy director Dennis Tueart is confident his team will prevail over the Island?s senior national team tomorrow night (7.30 p.m.) at the National Sports Centre.

Tueart, who played for City from 1974 to 1978 before crossing the Atlantic to join the now defunct New York Cosmos in the US, says his young charges are raring to go and eager to rub shoulders with former City icon Shaun Goater, who will spearhead the Island?s attack.

?I think we have a very good chance of winning this game because we have a very strong team. We have a lot of young boys in the team with three of them now on the fringe of the Manchester City first team squad,? said Tueart.

?We have quite a strong squad here and they are very keen on playing against Bermuda because they know it is a very important game for them leading up to their World Cup qualifying game against El Salvador.?

?The lads are delighted to be playing against the Goat because obviously back in Manchester Shaun is a legend. He did a fantastic job with them in the years he was with us. And so we expect to see a very competitive and tough game tomorrow night,? noted Tueart, himself a former City hero who played 258 games for the club and netted 107 goals.

City have returned to the Island to assist with Goater?s annual Grassroots Festival ? currently underway at the NSC ? with six new additions from last year?s squad which easily disposed of an Island Select 7-1 and a Goater-led North Village 6-0.

Included in this year?s City squad are Bradley Wright-Phillips, son of former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright and step-brother of City?s Premiership squad player Shawn Wright-Phillips.

Their full tour party is as follows: Laurence Matthewson, Daniel Warrender, Paul Collins, Paul Murphy, Nathan D?Laryea, Nedum Onuoha, Michael Ward, Ian Bennett, Marc Laird, Jonathan D?Laryea, Jamie Tandy, Carlos Logan, Ashley Grimes, Ishmael Miller, Karl Bermingham, Bardley Wright-Phillips, Dennis Tueart (director), James Cassell (academy director), Frank Bunn (coach), Alex Gibson (coach), Paul Power (coach) and Jeffrey Ross (physiotherapist).

In addition to Phillips, Tueart also singled out the likes of twins Nathan and Jonathan D?Laryea and team captain Chinedum Onuoh as players the local public should keep an eye on.

City are coming off an impressive season in the UK, having clinched both the Under-17 and Under-19 youth academy league championships.

Tueart, who earned two caps for England and scored City?s winner in the 1976 English League Cup final in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 at the now demolished Wembley Stadium against Newcastle United, added: ?Obviously Shaun?s main drive is to develop football in particular for the children in Bermuda and were just delighted because we helped to launch it last year.

?This year the numbers (at the Shaun Goater Grassroots Festival) are even greater and we are absolutely delighted. We?ve had over one hundred kids participate so far and expect another one hundred or so today.

?It?s going to be a great festival because we have an inter-school five-a-side competition and a soccer skills final. And so the stadium (NSC) is not only going to be bouncing on Friday night . . . but also on Saturday for the soccer finals day.?

Tueart, who has worked with City?s youth team for the past six and a half years, is by no means a stranger to the Island having made his debut for the Cosmos in 1978 at the former National Stadium against Bermuda in a pre-season exhibition match.

While at Cosmos, the former striker played alongside international legends such as Brazilian Carlos Alberto, Italian Georgio Chinaglia and Germany?s Franz Bechenbauer shortly after current Labour and Home Affairs Minister and recent Hall of Fame inductee Randy Horton had retired from playing professionally at the New York club.