A confident England Under-21 netball team will bow into action today, when they face former Super League champions Tivoli Gardens in a warm-up match at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine, starting at 3:30 p.m.

The English youngsters, who arrived in the island on Wednesday, will be using the game as part of their preparation for their three-Test series against the Jamaica Under-21 team, which begins on Monday at the same venue.

"I think a win would definitely help to make the team buoyant and we will use this momentum building into the Test series," said Anna Mayes, coach of the England team, in an interview with The Gleaner.

The Sylvester Campbell-coached Tivoli team will be led by former national representatives Kasey Evering, Cleopatra Grant, Peta-Gay Thomas and Tamara Hylton.

The England team includes two members of the senior team which recently defeated the Sunshine Girls 3-0 in a Test series in the United Kingdom. They are captain Eboni Beckford and vice-captain Jo Harpen.

"We are not going to underestimate any Jamaican side, whether it is their club team or their national team," said Mayes. "However, we are expecting a very physical and highly competitive Test series," she said.

"We will be looking to expose some of our girls to the Caribbean style of play because not all of them have experienced this type of play before, and they are excited and really looking forward to it," Mayes added.

Jamaica and England will be using the Test series as part of their preparation for the World Youth Netball Championships, which will be held in the Cook Islands in August.

England will be competing in Pool C of the tournament, along with Fiji, Botswana, Samoa and South Africa, while the Jamaicans will contest Pool D alongside Papua New Guinea, Malawi, Singapore and the United States.

The second match in the series will be played on Tuesday and the final game on Thursday.