Kane Crichlow is adamant the Bermuda squad are desperate to “put things right” when they face Aruba in their second World Cup qualifier tomorrow.

Fresh off a humbling 5-1 defeat by Canada in their opening outing, Kyle Lightbourne’s side will be aiming to get their qualifying campaign back on track at the IMG Academy Complex in Bradenton, Florida, against their fellow islanders.

While the Watford forward — who grabbed what proved a consolation goal against Canada on his debut — knows the expectation will be shifted on to Bermuda as favourites, he is also fully aware that his side must remain fully focused on the task at hand.

“We know the expectation is probably going to be on us for the next game,” he said. “Most people would say we are the better team on paper but we know we can’t afford to underestimate anyone. We have to go out there, do our job and make sure we get the result.

“Even though we were all disappointed with the Cananda result, it should hopefully put us in good stead going forward. We’ve come up against a team at the top level and that sets the standard for us.

“The last match has happened and we have to just move on. Aruba will be a different proposition for us and we have to be ready for a different challenge.

“We have a chance to put things right and prove we can compete at this level. It’s all about going out and getting a result.

“We will go into the game with a slightly different mentality because we are meant to be the favourites, but we can’t afford to drop our standards.

“We have to make sure we are at our best level, as if we were facing Canada all over again.

“The good thing is everyone demands a lot of each other and everyone wants 100 per cent from each other. I know we’ll be ready for the game and we’ll have a high intensity.”

In an otherwise forgettable outing on Thursday, Crichlow provided the standout positive moment for Lightbourne’s understrength side as he pounced on a goalkeeping error to reduce the deficit with his first senior international goal.

While the 20-year-old admits it was a proud moment for himself and his family, he conceded he didn’t have time to truly savour it, as he was fully focused on trying to help Bermuda salvage a result.

“Obviously I was delighted and proud to score on my debut; it is a moment I will never forget,” he added. “I know my family and friends were really proud of me, and it was an incredible experience.

“It’s funny because in training the skipper [Danté Leverock] is always telling us that someone has to get to the front post for crosses and so that was the only thing on my mind at the time. The ball dropped and thankfully I was there to put it in.

“It was just a shame we were 3-0 down at the time. I didn’t even think about celebrating at the time; my focus was purely on getting the ball and the game going again.

“I hoped we might have a chance to get back into the game, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

“I’d love to get on the scoresheet against Aruba; I’ve been thinking about scoring again a lot over the past couple of days.”

Reflecting further on the opening defeat, Crichlow acknowledges facing one of the region’s powerhouses was always going to be a tough task, especially with an understrength side and even more so after a number of the squad returned inconclusive results before the match, resulting in a reduced substitutes’ bench.

In difficult circumstances, Crichlow found himself in the unfamiliar position of a deeper central midfielder all too often, but he is adamant he will play wherever required moving forward.

“It was a really tough match but we knew that was going to be the case from the outset against one of the big teams in our region,” he said.

“We prepared the best we could in the circumstances with the issues with Covid and we tried as hard as we could during the game.

“It was different for me because I haven’t in that position as such for a number of years. I know the manager wanted me to get on the ball as much as possible and I think I coped pretty well in what was a tough game.

“It’s good to be able to adaptable in your game and, in all honesty, I’m more than happy to do whatever the manager asks of me if it means I’m in the team.”