Camptown Football Club has drafted national Under-23 striker Gregory `Jackie Chan' Richardson into the side in an attempt to stop teams from Georgetown sliding out of the Kashif and Shanghai football competition.

Camptown will host Eagles United in the feature game of a double-header card at the Camptown ground this evening and according to Coach Desmond Alfred, his side is a force to be reckoned with.

"We have a very powerful mid field which I'm proud of. Leslie Holligan, Jonathan Peters, Troy Prescod and Lance Rawlston are in the mid field. Up front, we have Nigel Codrington, Elton Brown and Richardson. We have national players at every position and that is a force that you have to recognise," Alfred said in an interview with Stabroek Sport.

"Camptown is a youthful team. More than half of our players are very young. Five of our players were in the national Under-23 team. We have been working hard twice a day for the last two weeks. We have fit players and no injuries."

Camptown has remained one of the top teams in the competition which it won once. Last year the side reached the semi-finals when Codrington played a pivotal role.

"We are very conscious of the fact that we have been knocking on the [Kashif and Shanghai] door for some time. Football is one of those games where you can't predict the result. We want to win the competition this year and we will do everything that we must do to get that," the former national coach said.

"The first thing that we must do is defeat Eagles. We are taking this game very, very seriously."

Eagles has also drafted in guest players. Overseas-based Renrick `Chief' Hutson and `John' Wayne Milo will lead the Eagles strike line. Eagles won the second Kashif and Shanghai competition. Deron Smith leads the team which includes Gregory Kercellus, Marlon Daniels and Kevin McCoy among others.

Alfred said that he does not envisage a real home court advantage for Camptown. "Whether we play in Berbice, Linden or in Georgetown it would be the same thing. We want to win the game.

Prescod will captain the home side, which on paper looks a sturdy bunch. National goal keeper Marlon Hendricks will do duties between the uprights. Orlando Gilgious, Damien Edwards, Lee McLeod are the defenders.

The supporting game will bring together BV/Triumph and Golden Stars. The first match kicks off at 6 pm.