Bermuda head into their second Nations League match against Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday (5pm) with a burning need for three points.

After losing their opening game in the competition 3-2 to Dominican Republic, who played 80 minutes of the match with only ten men, Bermuda cannot afford to leave Antigua with no points as they complete the first third of their group matches.

Their opponents are in a similar position after losing 2-1 to Dominica in their opening encounter on Saturday so an open game in League B Group 4 can be expected with both sides attempting to keep their hopes of earning promotion to League A alive.

Bermuda coach Michael Findlay understands the importance of travelling home with the confidence of a win and is hoping that the squad has left behind the disappointment of letting the lead slip twice against Dominican Republic.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position where we have to recover quickly, both emotionally and physically, in order to play Antigua & Barbuda,’’ Findlay said.

“We need those points to make sure that this group stays alive, which ii very much is at this moment in time. We have to move on to the next game and then re-evaluate after that.

“The beauty of this game is that it presents us with another opportunity and we’re not out of anything at this moment in time as it relates to Nations League.

“We have a game to play here on Tuesday and we have four more games after that, but we have to make sure that we leave Antigua & Barbuda with at least three points. That’s got to be our objective and without an objective, why would we play the game?”

With the two victorious teams from matchday one, Dominica and Dominican Republic facing each other at 12pm Bermuda time, the shape of the group will start to form by Tuesday night and Findlay is hopeful his squad will take their chance to shine against Antigua.

“At the end of the day, this group is still wide open,” Findlay said.

“It's now about getting maximum points and seeing where you fit. Whether that means you've won the group and qualified for the Gold Cup in 2025 or you have gained enough points that you’re one of the second-placed teams out of the four groups.

“This is a wide-open situation, but it starts again for us and we must make sure that we can get maximum points.”

The new Nations League format means that all four teams compete in the same stadium on the same day so Findlay has been given the perfect opportunity to scout Antigua at first-hand.

“We did keep an eye on their match against Dominica,” the Bermuda coach said.

“We also have some previous knowledge of Antigua & Barbuda as they are in our World Cup qualifying group.

“We’ll review their match against Dominica and make any adjustments we feel are required.

“We have to cleanse ourselves of this situation and get our minds on what we need to, which is to get the three points on Tuesday.”