US Virgin Islands head coach Daryl Rogers was adamant yesterday they are capable of upsetting Bermuda in tonight?s opening Digicel Caribbean Cup clash.

The former Birmingham City youth player, who is a native of St. Kitts, admitted that football has struggled with its profile in a region where American sports have naturally tended to thrive.

But the 56-year-old insisted, nevertheless, that if tournament favourites Bermuda in any way underestimate his side ? who are at the bottom of the FIFA world rankings in 197th place ? particularly given the ?great equaliser? of a pitch, then they could be in for a considerable shock.

?Hosting this tournament has given all of us a real boost,? said the man who played semi-professional football in England in the 1970s and early 80s and has been the coach of USVI since 1998.

?We?re expecting a reasonable crowd to come out and support us and we?ve had a very good build-up.

?Like Bermuda, we?re a bit short of match practice and have had to play warm-up games against club sides who do not stretch us enough.

?But in the last few years, our football association have invested heavily in the grass roots and just about now are seeing some of the fruits of that investment.

?The average age of this squad is 23 and if we can keep them together I think we?ll continue to improve.

?It?s always difficult for us to play teams like Bermuda and the Dominican Republic because both are football nations with much more active programmes than us and more players.

?I know there were some problems the last time around with ineligible players, but Bermuda did lose to the British Virgin Islands in the last Digicel Cup two years ago which shows you that surprises can happen.

?We?re certainly looking forward to the game. We?ll have the crowd behind us, the pitch will not be easy and we?ve got nothing to lose because the pressure is on Bermuda. There?s no reason why we cannot win.?

One of the biggest obstacles that USVI face as a team is the division of their national team players between the two main islands ? St. Thomas and St. Croix ? which makes getting the squad together on a regular basis a challenge.

There is also the fierce and long-standing inter-island rivalry to overcome ? though Rogers hinted that this has become less of a factor in recent years.

?There are five teams in St. Croix and seven teams in St. Thomas and when I first arrived here there were some problems in terms of getting the two sides to work together,? he admitted.

?Historically that has always been the case. Although we?re all part of the same thing, there has always been some friction between the two communities.

?This is getting much better though. In football terms the players are now more interested in representing USVI well and although we still have some logistical and financial difficulties getting the players together, other than for maybe one or two weekends a month, there?s certainly been some progress.

?Hosting the Digicel Cup can only help us move forward and it would do a lot for the development of our sport if we were to do well. The players understand this and will be going for the win against Bermuda.?