Kyle Lightbourne is confident Bermuda Hogges will have more firepower in their ranks this season – and revealed more players will be added to the squad.

Among Hogges' new faces are Hamilton Parish striker Jamie Smith and Dandy Town marksman Antwan Russell with Lightbourne backing both players to cause USL-D2 defenders some problems.

"I'm very excited about our two front new players, Antwan and Jamie," said Lightbourne, whose team tackle Crystal Palace Baltimore in the US in their opening match of the season on Friday. "I've been very impressed with Jamie.

"His training habits are great and if he performs how he does in training, with his eagerness and willingness to learn, I think we can go a long way.

"He shows a lot of spirit and good attitude towards the game and I'm just hoping that he can cause a few of the sides we come up against some problems.

"We are hoping the new guys such as Jamie, Antwan, Tokia Russell and Keston Lewis can come in and make a good impact. For some of them it may be a shock to the system, so we're going to have to guide them in the right direction from the beginning."

Although the Hogges named a 19-man squad on Monday they still have seven places available on their roster with Lightbourne admitting he would be increasing his options with additional signings.

It's thought the likes of North Village goalkeeper Jason Williams, Somerset Eagles' former Trinidadian international Marlon Rojas and Boulevard's Michael Parsons and Chae Simmons are in the reckoning to join the franchise.

"We're trying to strike a better balance this year with the team," said Lightbourne. "We still have room in the team for some players to sign on but we can't name them just yet.

"There are league rules and we can actually get fined for saying that we are interested in this player or that player.

"Even though we are in a different sort of situation we still have to abide by the laws."

Although the Hogges finished second from bottom during their sophomore season last summer they were only three points from securing a play-off berth. But Lightbourne has warned against raising expectations and is hoping his veteran players have learned harsh lessons from the past two seasons.

"Last year, with the up and down season we had, we were only a couple of points off the play-offs.

"We finished second from bottom, but had we won our last game we would have been in on goal difference.

"It's a nine-team league (as opposed to a ten-team league) this year and we're still going to find it difficult at times.

"But I'm just hoping the players that were there for the first few years have learned some harsh lessons and will be able to cope with situations a little bit better," he added.