With only two points from their first two final-round World Cup qualifiers, Trinidad & Tobago are gunning for a good result against the series leaders to keep pace in CONCACAF qualifying.

But they have never won on US soil, neither for qualifiers (0-1-6) nor overall (0-1-10), and have not scored a goal in their last six trips here.

The USA lead the standings with four points, with Costa Rica and Mexico sharing second on three points each.

El Salvador and T&T share fourth on points but the Central Americans are ahead of T&T by virtue of scoring more goals. Honduras are bottom of the standings with one point.

The teenager Khaleem Hyland, who netted T&T’s late goal Saturday that earned them a 1-1 draw at home against Honduras, said the team is upbeat going into today’s clash at the LP Stadium.

“I feel right now we are in a confident mood but at the same time we know how difficult it’s going to be because America never likes losing a game, especially at home,” Hyland told TTFF Media on Monday.

“But our team knows how important a good result will be. We have to be confident because we are away from home. Getting the point on Saturday was still good because we remained unbeaten,” he said.

The 19-year-old Hyland is not ruling out an upset win over the series leaders.

“I think we need to stay organised for as long as possible in today’s game and take our chances as they come. We also need to ensure we don’t give them too many easy opportunities,” added the Belgium-based player.

The Americans beat T&T 3-0 in the semi-final round at home in September.

T&T arrived for the match on Monday with England-based duo Chris Birchall and goalkeeper Clayton Ince — back from suspension – both in their squad.

Suspended captain Dwight Yorke also travelled with the squad in spite of his ineligibility for today’s encounter.

Coach Francisco Maturana, heavily criticised for using ace striker Kenwyne Jones only as a second-half substitute on Saturday, is set to unleash the Sunderland marksman on the USA after declaring that he used him sparingly in the Honduras game because he thought he needed a rest.

The USA also drew Saturday, coming from behind for a 2-2 result in San Salvador.

They would have been happier with a win but the experienced Frankie Hejduk feels the resilience they showed coming from 0-2 down against El Salvador has left them on a high.

“Anytime you don’t have your best game and come back and get a point on the road, it says a lot for the team,” Hejduk said.

“The guys really battled hard. We never gave up. The U.S. have a never-say-die attitude. Even at 2-0 … we knew the game wasn’t over. We believe in each other,” added Hejduk, who scored a late equaliser after setting up another by second-half substitute Jozy Altidore on Saturday night against El Salvador.

In today’s other CONCACAF matches, Honduras will be a home to Mexico and El Salvador are away to Costa Rica.