Steve Nicol is leaving Bermuda a happy man, content that his team are having a good pre-season and a Champions Cup victory in Costa Rica remains a possibility.

The New England Revolution contingent are departing in two shifts, one left yesterday and another go today, ahead of three days of training and then a trip to Alejuela for their second leg clash in the CONCACAF regional tournament.

And the former Liverpool legend believes his Major League Soccer side got what they wanted out of their sojourn to Bermuda?s warmer climes.

?I?m happy with what we?ve done here,? said Nicol, whose side went through their pre-season tour undefeated.

?Things are never going to be perfect pre-season, your passing is going to be off and no one is going to be that sharp. That?s why you have a pre-season, you have to get all those things right for the real thing and I think we have done well here.

?It is great for the lads to get out there on the grass and work on their touch. You can see them improving as time goes on and the pitch (at the National Sports Centre) is perfect for that.

?It is so quick ? too quick sometimes ? so you have to be aware, and your passing has to be good and, particularly for the strikers, you have to be accurate and ready and on your game to do anything.

?I think we will be leaving having taken a big jump back towards our usual season standards.?

Nicol?s New England side, runners-up in the MLS last season to LA Galaxy, arrived on the Island with a number of injuries ? including home star Khano Smith ? and left with one extra, US star Pat Noonan, out for three weeks with a torn hamstring.

But the former Liverpool legend is still confident, even without one of his top international strikers, of getting something out of the Costa Ricans LD Alajuelense, who played a negative, defensive game in drawing 0-0 in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on the carpet last Wednesday.

?It?s going to be a completely different game,? added the coach, whose side beat Bermuda 3-0, the Under 20-side 9-1 and also toppled the Jamaica Under-23 side 1-0 on their second trip to Bermuda.

?They are going to be coming at us and they?ll have the crowd behind them too. It?ll be tough, we know that, but unlike a couple of years ago in this competition, we are not just going there hoping for a creditable result, we are going there knowing that the game is winnable and believing that we can do it.?

Nicol is giving his men some time off before indoor training resumes again on Friday with sessions on Saturday and Sunday before they fly out on Monday to Central America, train in Costa Rica the following day and then play their second leg a week tomorrow.