Bermuda coach Michael Findlay has expressed his excitement about playing against Honduras in the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary round in March next year.

The Gombey Warriors, who finished second to Dominican Republic in their Nations League group, have a tough assignment in their last chance at Gold Cup qualification when they face the higher-ranked Central American teams over two legs during the next international break in March.

The seven fixtures in the preliminary round were decided based on the regional body’s rankings of the 14 teams, with the highest-ranked side facing the lowest-ranked.

“After home-and-away play, the winner in each match-up will qualify for the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup,’’ Concacaf announced. “The preliminary round schedule will be announced at a later date.”

Bermuda’s cause against Honduras could be boosted by the away leg being played behind closed doors with Concacaf decreeing their next home match should be played with no fans in attendance after Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was struck on the head with a beer bottle in their last match.

But coach Findlay believes playing against quality opponents in the region is crucial for the growth of his team.

“I’m excited about the players getting an opportunity to play a team of the quality of Honduras with the chance to once again test ourselves versus a Concacaf top team,” Findlay told The Royal Gazette.

“It's a very daunting task and there is a lot of work to be done by the staff and individually by the players to be ready physically and emotionally to compete in March 2025.

“Football is a great provider of challenges, so we see this as an opportunity not a threat. Our programme needs to play these games if we are going to grow and be in matches like this on a consistent basis.”

With qualification to the preliminary round already guaranteed before they kicked off, Bermuda’s campaign ended on a disappointing note with a 6-1 loss to Dominican Republic.

Findlay’s team suffered a similar defeat to Honduras in a 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier at home in June and the coach faces a tough task of invigorating his side between now and March.

“Well, we’ll only know if we turn it around on the day,’’ the coach said.

“But our strategy must include the personal commitment of the players to do all they can inside their football environments physically and mentally to be prepared if called upon.

“The staff also needs to establish a tactical strategy for success, then we play and that will provide the answer of whether we have turned it around.

“Our preparation will provide them with the reviews and the debriefs from this camp and performance. We’ll be putting together a winter training schedule for the domestic players, with a domestic camp planned in February prior to the Fifa window in March.

“The players overseas, we need to keep them turning over, so they’ll get their own plans because we have a lot ahead of us.”

Findlay, who has been to the Gold Cup with Canada and Grenada before, believes he has done well to inculcate a different mentality in the team from the time he took over in August last year.

“When I came in last year, some of the players we had did not seem concerned when we lost,’’ Findlay said.

“I had a really strong conversation with them and the staff because I didn't expect that. What I can tell you about the losses to Dominican Republic, Honduras and Guinea [5-1], these players were devastated.

“They were upset with the performance and the end result of each of those matches. I can say that we've seen a vast improvement on the demands that they’re putting on themselves.

“What we want to do is to push the players as far as we can to make sure that we get over these hurdles, and not trip on them.

“I think we are making progress, but sometimes progress is not as fast as you want it. Some of the realities we've to deal with are the teams that we play against, where those players are playing and who they’re playing against week in week out.”