Rhode Island coach Khano Smith has expressed his desire to reach the United Soccer League Championship play-offs final at the end of the month.

Smith’s side, who are in their debut season in the USL, progressed to the semi-finals after beating Indy Eleven 3-2 in the single elimination quarter-finals last Sunday.

They face Louisville City on Saturday with a chance to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference final, which if they win, will qualify them for the USL Championship decider on November 23 against the winner of the Western Conference play-offs.

“Obviously you want to play as long as you can,” Smith said. “How the league is structured over here, the play-offs are very important.

“We feel the team is peaking and performing at the right time. We’re really pleased and hopefully, we can continue this weekend.”

During the regular season, while Louisville City finished on top in the Eastern Conference, Rhode Island, who were fifth, picked up four points against them. The two teams drew 0-0 in May before Smith’s side won 5-2 away, which gives the Bermudian hope that they will prevail again this time around.

“It’s a shorter recovery because we played on Sunday,’’ the former Bermuda captain said.

“At this point, we make no excuses, you deal with the hand that you're dealt and prepare as best as you can for what was the best team in the league during the regular season.

“We beat them during the regular season so we know it’s going to be a tough challenge, but we feel like we could do some things to win the game. It’s one game at a time and this game on Saturday is what really matters.”

Rhode Island had to play the last few minutes of their match against Indy Eleven one player short after Stephen Turnbull dislocated his shoulder. When the injury occurred, Smith had used all his substitutions.

Meanwhile, another Bermudian Zeiko Lewis is also chasing success in the USL play-offs with Union Omaha when they clash with Greenville Triumph SC on Saturday. Lewis provided an assist in the Western Conference team’s 1-0 victory over Richmond Kickers in the quarter-finals.

Union Omaha finished on top of the standings in the Western Conference at the conclusion of the regular season, which makes them one of the favourites to reach the grand finale.