Scott Morton goes home with a headache many nights - but it's one he is delighted to have.

Faced with an abundance of riches, the coach of the Island's premier football team is approaching the upcoming season knowing he will have surplus talent warming the benches for almost every game.

Not only has he retained the nucleus of North Village's strike force but several other players are keen to show their worth as the back-to-back Premier League champions zero in on a three-peat.

"It's going to be very competitive. When I look around, as a coach, I just go home every night with a splitting headache because every week I'm going to have to leave someone out who can make any squad in Bermuda.

"But that's a good thing. I'd prefer to have that headache than any other," said the man voted Coach of the Year last season.

Apart from the likes of Kevin, Keith and Kentoine Jennings, Michael Hansey, Ralph Bean Jr, Kofi Dill, Jemeiko Jennings, Kimandi Binns, Zane Hendrickson and Dwight Warren, he noted there were more players itching to be among the regular first team.

"We have a strong squad . . . people like Clay Smith, Mackie and Tafari Outerbridge who didn't play much last year but we look forward to seeing more from them this year. We have a few players who didn't play last year - Sergio Goater, Lamont Marshall - so the consistency and depth is there."

In addition, three Under-17s have graduated to the top flight: goalkeeper Daniel Johnson, left-back Logan Alexander and utility player Keishan Bean.

"Logan is one of the up and coming youngsters. He has been a steady player with the Under-17s. He is very humble but very dedicated and he has the qualities we're looking for in terms of being a senior player in the future.

"We are looking for him to fill in the gap at left back that Randy Spence has vacated."

Morton said Bean, 16, "can play in a variety of positions anywhere in the attacking part of the field" while rating Johnson - the Under-17 national `keeper - an "excellent prospect" for the future.

The coach, however, will be relying on players - such as the Jennings clan - who have been the backbone of Village's success story to carry much of the work load again.

"There's a lot of experience and they know how we do things at Village. For me this pre-season has been much more relaxing because I don't have to repeat a lot of things I have done in past years. It's just fine-tuning a lot of minor details or things we need to improve on.

"Of course we want to win. Everyone wants to win but with us, once we come off the field feeling that we gave everything we could and we worked on the things that we did in training, then we let the result take care of itself."

Back in March, after retaining the league trophy, Morton declared "we're going for the three-peat" but yesterday admitted his sights were way beyond that.

"We would like to win them all - every tournament. I'm not going to say it any other way. We want them all.

"That's always our goal - to win every match. We take the steps necessary to do that."

The coach acknowledged that devising ways of keeping his players motivated, amid their dominance on the local scene, was proving quite challenging.

"That's the point I'm at right now, trying to figure out how to achieve that this year. I want to bring new objectives to the team so things are not repetitious.

"Basically it's a matter of setting team goals and it's nothing to do with league titles or Martonmere Cup, Friendship Cup. Nothing like that.

"It's to do with how we play, different things to improve on. Those are the goals we're setting this year to make the team more cohesive."

For example, he noted that given Village's attacking nature, he wanted to see their defensive line remaining in close link with those up front to help build creative attacks. Another objective is for players to be more multi-functional so that each one can "play in any position at any given time".

He will also be working on individual goals for different players - based on their strengths and weaknesses - such as improving kicking with their weaker foot or crossing the ball.

Morton revealed that Village were not content simply to conquer local football but were aiming to take their campaign to the regional level, possibly qualifying for the CONCACAF Club Championships (for top league teams).

"That's been talked about for a few years now but everyone has to share the blame - the players, the organisation - as to why it hasn't taken off.

"Yes, we are looking into that again. We have contacted the BFA (Bermuda Football Association) to inquire about the CONCACAF situation - what is the criteria for entering, funding and all of that.

"That's something we would definitely like to do, to really challenge ourselves and see where our players are at - not just North Village but Bermudian players - compared to American and Caribbean players."