Kyle Lightbourne has warned his Bermuda side against complacency versus Barbados as they aim to take a step closer to reaching a second Gold Cup.

The two teams face off in a one-off Gold Cup preliminary-round fixture at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday for the chance to take on Haiti or St Vincent & the Grenadines for a place in the group stage proper.

While Lightbourne is confident about securing a result, he is also well aware of the threat posed by an opponent his side have failed to beat in their previous two meetings and who are also six places higher in the Fifa world rankings.

“We have to go all out and make sure we leave everything out there on the field,” said Lightbourne, whose side are aiming to bounce back from a disappointing conclusion to World Cup qualifying where Bermuda were beaten 6-0 by Surinam and played to a 1-1 draw with the Cayman Islands in group B. “We have the opportunity to go out and put things right from difficult moments through the World Cup qualifying campaign. We have to put that behind us and move on.

“From my point of view, we have to be in a position to want the game more than Barbados. The biggest threat I’d say about Barbados is that they have a lot of heart.

“They are always prepared to stay in games and dig in and so we have to be aware of that. We know they will be prepared to do the hard work and so we have to expect that.

“It’s knockout football and so we have to give everything and not hold anything back. Right now we can’t be thinking about who we might play next; this is the only fixture we have to focus on, the only one.”

Not only do Bermuda have to be wary of complacency, they also face an opposition who have new-found strength in depth with a number of significant additions to their squad in recent months.

Notable among them are experienced strikers Hallam Hope and Nick Blackman, of Sky Bet League Two club Oldham Athletic and Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel-Aviv respectively.

“We know they have brought in a number of players with overseas experience, particularly up front, and that is something else we have to be prepared for,” Lightbourne added.

“However, we watched them and have a strong idea of what to expect going into the match. From my standpoint, if we do what we should and get it right, we should be fine. We just have to execute what we want from our game plan.”

With no margin for error, Lightbourne expressed his delight about being able to welcome back a host of frontline players of his own, with former captain Danté Leverock, Nahki Wells, Reggie Lambe, Justin Donawa and Jonté Smith bolstering the squad.

Also among the players rejoining the national set-up are Zeiko Lewis, Jaylon Bather, Calon Minors and Kane Crichlow, making this a much changed squad from that which limped out of the World Cup.

“Obviously it is always great to have a strong squad available and I’m really happy to be able to call upon some of our most experienced players,” said Lightbourne, whose side were given a valuable run-out in a 1-0 defeat by Guyana in a behind-closed doors friendly in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

“We have some really strong options throughout the squad and I know I can call upon any number of players if things need changing.

“Although I was disappointed that we didn’t manage to score after controlling much of the game against Guyana, it was pleasing to be able to give some players game time and I had the opportunity to fine-tune a few areas and be more ready.

“I also thought we looked more like ourselves than we have in recent games.

“That should help us to be able to be on the front foot from the beginning of the match [against Barbados]. Obviously, in every game the other team will have moments that we have to manage, but I’ll be looking for us to be on the front foot and execute our plan.”