Bermuda coach Michael Findlay has urged his players to express themselves freely against Honduras.

The two teams clash in the first leg of the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary round at Flora Duffy Stadium tonight (8pm) and Findlay is hopeful his players will cope with the pressure.

“It’s a massive challenge that they must embrace and enjoy,” Findlay told The Royal Gazette.

“The only way to assess their competencies is against teams of this standard. You can expect the team to put up a fight and we’ll see what it looks like after 90 minutes.

“At the end of the day, you always have to enter any football match knowing fully well that funnier things have happened. We’re hopeful that they’re able to apply the strategy that we've put in place, and will give it their best shot.

“What has to be in our belief system is that, no matter what happens, there’s an opportunity to have success. There is no doubt that we’re going to frustrate and deny the opponents and really come from a place of patience and organisation.

“We have four big games in the next few months and we need to set a certain level of performance for those matches. We want to be providing very solid performances and taking chances that are put in front of us.”

Findlay, who has been to the Gold Cup as a coach on three prior occasions, is eager to make a return to the region's premier men's tournament, this time with the Gombey Warriors.

“It’s going to take a Herculean effort from our players to get over this hurdle,” he said.

“It’s going to take a very strong mentality because this is going to be a very strategic game. But I look at it and say, where else would you rather be? Would you like not to be playing or do you want to be playing against Honduras in a two-game series to go to the Gold Cup?

“I’m one for optimism, I love great stories and football is full of them. History shows you that right when you think it’s not possible, it becomes possible.”

The last time Honduras came to these shores, they ran out 6-1 victors in a World Cup qualifier, but for Findlay the positive is that the game was 1-1 at half-time.

“We went into the second half of that game on level terms, and that’s something to celebrate,” the coach said.

“It shows that we have the quality to compete with a team like this. We saw at the end that the quality of Honduras is unquestionable, in terms of where their players are playing and the environments that they’re in.

“What our players learnt is that we found ourselves being punished by self-inflicted mistakes. The number of goals that we conceded near the end of the game were in transition.

“We have to be aware of how important it is to value the ball when we have it, because we’re not going to see a lot of it. When we have opportunities, we have to execute on those.

“We've looked at that match and saw a couple of different situations. We were in possession of the ball, when we lost it, we gave up a goal within seconds from that transition, and that’s something we need to improve on.

“We need to make sure that we keep our lines tight, reduce the space and be compact to frustrate this team. We have to do that with some new players that have come in, and it’s a steep learning curve for them. We want our players to be brave, we tell them all the time that we want to come to games with no fear and a fighting mentality.

Without Danté Leverock and Harry Twite, who have been the trusted central defensive pair for Findlay since he assumed the coaching role in August 2023, the coach’s options include uncapped youngsters Max Mobray and Kieron Richardson.

“This is the first time that they have come face to face with their team-mates and I think they've integrated well,’’ he said.

“They seem very comfortable. I’m very impressed with Max and Kieron, as well as Sachiel [Ming], who is coming back after being away due to his school commitments.

“They are young players with a bright future, and they’re displaying the maturity, focus and commitment that we need from them.

“Kieron has not been involved with the Bermudian programme before and Max is an under-20 player, so there is lots of work to do in getting them integrated.”

Findlay has also been pleased by the versatility displayed by Eusebio Blankendal, who is back in the national side after a four-year absence.

“I think his performances and his flexibility positionally give us a good opportunity to assess him and see the potential he has,” the coach said.

“He knows some of the things that he has to address in terms of being at a standard of international level. In terms of opportunities to replace players, he gives us flexibility in different areas.

“International football has a lot to do with players being able to play not just one position, but being able to play in one or two positions. He has the ability to block space and occupy those channels to deny the opposition a chance to breach our defence.”