Khano Smith?s shirt number has actually changed from the 32 of last year to 18 ? although no New England Revolution fans have yet realised this.

Smith, sensationally snatched from Dandy Town by the Major League Soccer side after scoring against them for the national team last year, has not even suited up so far this campaign for Steve Nicol?s men.

Knee surgery following a crunching tackle from World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff in the penultimate match of last season has left the left-sided attacker with weak quad muscles and a lot of frustration.

Despite local tour organisers Setplay stating that Smith ?might? be available for February?s visit from the Revolution, the player himself has known all along that he wouldn?t be playing again until July or August at the earliest.

?The doctor told me to prepare for the second half of the season,? said Smith, with half an eye on the locker room television screen showing the USA v Italy World Cup match in which team-mate Clint Dempsey was involved.

?So it?s not a case of anything actually going wrong with my rehab, it is just a slow and long rehab. Yes, of course it?s frustrating, but it is times like this you have to work hard and just wait for your chance.?

Smith is running and kicking a ball again ? and has been doing so for some weeks ? but the muscle damage to his quad means he is kept out of contact sessions.

?I am pretty much doing all the training,? said Smith, who was seen out on the immaculate Gillette Stadium pitch an hour or so before Saturday?s kick-off against DC United warming up with the other players listed as ?doubtful? or ?questionable? rather than ?out?.

?I have lost a lot of the muscle in my quads and that is what?s slowing things down. I could probably go out there and play now but I wouldn?t be as strong or as fast as I should be.

?It is just a case of waiting for my chance. It?s frustrating because I am over here to play ? it?s my job - and I can?t at the moment. What makes it worse is that with all the injuries the team?s had so far, I probably would have been starting.?

Smith has made just one trip home to Bermuda since his visit here with his Revolution team-mates in February, to complete the important business of picking up his green card.

This documentation gives Smith a new level of ?job security? as it takes him off the overseas players? list, releasing a space for another foreign signing and making him less of a liability to keep on the squad while still injured.

As well as his ambitions to return to the starting line-up of the Revolution ? who have failed to repeat their winning streak of the previous year that saw them clinch the Eastern Conference and a place in the MLS Championship final ? he has international ambitions.

Assuming there are no setbacks, Smith should be available for Kyle Lightbourne?s squad for the trip to the Dominican Republic in September in the Digicel Cup.

?It would be great to be back for that,? said Smith enthusiastically, before adding that he would have to talk to coach Nicol before committing to the national cause.

?I would do everything I can to be there, it is very important to me to be able to play for my country and I think we would have a great shot at qualifying.? Smith was injured in the penultimate game in the last Digicel campaign, missing the vital decider in which Bermuda were dispatched from the regional competition against a team who ?weren?t that good?.

The optimistic Smith is hopeful that he will be able to play his part in preventing a repeat of that international disappointment as well as helping the Revolution to return to the MLS final in Dallas.

But for now, Smith has to content himself with brief pre-match warm-ups before taking his place in the stands.