Manchester City star Shaun Goater doesn't mince his words when speaking of the challenges facing fellow Bermudians Stephen Astwood and Tokia Russell as they embark on a trial period with English First Division club Preston North End.

But the striker says he has no doubt that the pair can follow in his and Kyle Lightbourne's footsteps as they bid to impress during a month-long trial at one of England's oldest clubs. It won't have as much to do with skill as it will attitude, Goater warns -- something he will have told the youngsters when all three players boarded the same British Airways flight to England on Tuesday night. "I hope they have done some sort of fitness,'' said Goater.

"I know what I'm going into, so it won't be a shock, but I don't know if these guys know about running until they bring up.'' During his break in Bermuda, Goater was disciplined enough to maintain his fitness and keep his weight down. That, he says, is what professional football demands of players, not the casual, laid back approach that players here are used to at the amateur level. "We can all go for a run in the morning and a run in the evening, but running until you are sick is another level and that's where you have to dig deep,'' Goater warned. "To ask someone to do that, who isn't guaranteed any type of reward, financial or otherwise, they might look at it and think `this is too much, these people must be crazy'. "But they have to go out there with this in mind, that they are going to run until they feel sick. If they are able to dig deep and get through that period, then everything else they can deal with. "The question they will ask is how much do they want it, to wake up the next day and run and bring up again and to know that this cycle will go on for two or three weeks and they might not even touch a ball. That's the reality at some places.'' Astwood and Russell are seen as two of the more talented young players locally, Russell being 22 and Astwood just 18. Their clubs, PHC and Social Club, are helping financially as they chase their dreams. "Attitude is so big, I've noticed it down here with kids strolling in,'' said Goater, referring to youngsters in the coaching camp he runs every year with David Bascome. "Once you cross the white line as we say, your whole attitude to training and playing should be professional.'' Like Goater and Lightbourne, Astwood is a striker while Russell can play as a wide player in either midfield or up front. "From speaking to (agent) Barry McIntosh, they will probably try him (Russell) in a wide position, I told him he's a good crosser of the ball,'' said Mark Trott who arranged the trial for the pair. "Kyle spoke to them both and I'm glad that Shaun will enforce the things he said, to impart his wisdom.'' Goater feels having himself and Lightbourne available could be invaluable for the pair, as they have been on that path before. Goater is about a 40-minute drive from Preston and, if their schedule permits, he would like to invite them as his guests when Manchester City play Manchester United in a pre-season testimonial for United's Dennis Irwin in early August. "I would love to see Bermudians playing in the Premiership a lot earlier than me,'' said Goater, whose dream is now about to be realised after years in the lower divisions. "For me, I wanted it bad enough, that's all it was.'' Goater admits he was in for a football culture shock when he first went to England. "We like football, they love football and will die for football,'' he said. "People will say `what's that about the English fans fighting each other', but they are fighting because another person said their team is rubbish. "Here, we don't go to a game because it's cold but they will go to a game in freezing weather. "Once we get the desire, as players, to say `I want to make it no matter what', we'll make it. Saying is one thing and doing is another.'' Even if the pair are successful in the trials they face another big obstacle, securing a work permit. "It could help that Kyle and Shaun are already over there and doing all right,'' said Trott who also helped arrange trials for both Goater and Lightbourne. "With Kyle and Shaun you could see it, it was written all over their face. The only thing that was going to stop them was if they didn't get a permit. Hopefully they both (Astwood and Russell) will display that same type of attitude.'' PHOTO Tokia Russell (left) and Steve Astwood can expect a gruelling introduction to professional soccer when they begin trials with Preston North End.