Satisfied by Bermuda?s performances this week against a ?highly ranked? Trinidad national team, coach Kenny Thompson will now turn his attention to the upcoming World Cup qualifying series against Montserrat later this month.

Reflecting upon this week?s two international friendlies against one of the Caribbean?s top teams, Thompson yesterday attributed his side?s marked improvement to a ?high level of motivation, ambition and commitment? demonstrated by his players.

Bermuda lost the first match 1-0 on Tuesday night, despite dictating much of the play, and on Thursday earned a 2-2 draw.

Thompson, however, was quick to warn his players about complacency or taking lowly ranked Montserrat for granted.

?We played two very excellent games against a highly ranked and highly regarded country in our region ? but we still haven?t arrived yet,? said the coach.

?We certainly have to guard against complacency. We are currently ranked 180 (in the FIFA rankings) and that?s not many places above Montserrat.

?Just look at our performances against Trinidad. They were ranked 70 and if you were to look purely at the rankings, then we had no right to be in a position to blow Trinidad off the park in the first match and to draw in the second.

?Yes, the rankings are there but it?s important that we don?t focus too much on them. We must take Montserrat as we should any opponent . . . and give the utmost respect for each and every opponent that we play without being overawed.?

Though Bermuda were able to elevate their game, after suffering a 4-0 drubbing by Barbados over the Christmas holiday, Thompson was quick to point out the Island team still had a lot of ground to cover before it could again be considered as a force in the CONCACAF region.

?There? s still much work to be done. This is a long term programme and continuing work in progress. We try as best we can to achieve results as quickly as possible. But in trying to find the balance between being result oriented for the present and also keeping in mind the long term goals, it?s important that one doesn?t get in the way of the other. For instance the poor result on New Year?s Day against Barbados didn?t get in the way of the continuing work of establishing a long term programme that we can be proud of,? he explained.

Thompson, however, was eager to pay tribute to his squad.

?I am extremely proud of what the players have accomplished so far and they must be commended,? he said. ?They have shown the motivation and ambition which is required at the international level. The positive performances were due to the attitude of the players in preparation.

In the wake of Bermuda?s sub par performances against Barbados last month, Thompson and his technical staff were forced to make changes, recalling some players with international experience while adding a few new faces.

?We needed to bring in some new players ? some with a little bit more experience and others that were knocking on the national team door,? he added. ?Overall it has made the entire training programme competitive from a player?s standpoint in terms of each player having to perform at their optimum level in order to earn a place on the team. And that?s a healthy situation.

?It?s a healthy situation in that it is healthy competition for places and as such the standard has been very high in training and that bodes well for the overall programme.?

The coach said he never doubted Bermuda?s potential ahead of the matches against Trinidad.

?We played a few preparation matches against club teams and observing the team?s performances during those matches I always felt confident we could perform well against Trinidad. As we saw during those two games the level was really quite high and so we saw the potential quality of the team . . . their ability to adapt and their competitive spirit to try and obtain the desired result no matter what the circumstances.?

Thompson said the national team would continue training four times weekly and warned any players who might think their position was secure that the door remained open for others to come onboard.

?The door is always open for players that are playing well. Players that are not showing potential at the moment can certainly at some time in the future display performances which warrant a call to the national team ? that happens all over the world,? he said.

?But it will certainly be more difficult for players who want to get into the national team now because they will have to be playing at least up to the level of those already in the team or better.?