Rhode Island FC coach Khano Smith is excited by the prospects of coming home with this team.

Smith’s side arrive on island today as part of final preparations for a debut season in the USL Championship, with the highlight of their tour two friendly matches against a Bermuda Football Association Select XI tomorrow and Tuesday at the Flora Duffy Stadium.

“For me coming to Bermuda comes at an important phase of training for our team,’’ said Smith, who is a former captain of the national side.

“We get to play a quality opponent in good weather. It’s much colder at home for us right now so training outside becomes challenging. In Bermuda, we’ll be able to play on grass and hopefully in good weather, which is exciting.

“Ultimately it’s a team-building trip, spending time away with each other means people tend to gel and glue together faster.

“Spending time in a different country is going to be a unique experience for our players. The chemistry and camaraderie they’ll be able to build with each other is going to be massively important.

“My connections to the island helped in putting this together but ultimately it’s about getting our team some game time and training time, that’s the primary focus.”

Rhode Island, who face New Mexico United in their first match in the USL Championship on March 16, have just concluded a pre-season camp in Florida and while the composition of their opposition is yet to be made public, Smith has been giving his players some tips on what to expect.

“They probably don’t know what to expect and we just got back from a pre-season trip to Florida,’’ Smith told The Royal Gazette.

“We were in Florida for two weeks so it’s been a quick turnaround for them and they've had only a few days to settle home before they’re leaving again.

“We’ll prepare them for the group that we’re going to play against. We’ll watch some videos so they’ll have some idea of what they’re up against football-wise.

“I think it will be a select group of domestic-based players but we’re going to prepare as if we’re going to play the best players from Bermuda.

“We’re going to be prepared and do our homework to make sure we put on our best performance. A big part of what we do is preparation for the opponents. Certainly it’s about preparing for the season but part of that process for us is preparing for the opponents.

“We treat every opponent, no matter what league, what country, with the same level of respect.

“We’re not really preparing for individuals, we’re preparing for a team and the style of play because ultimately we don’t know what the line-up is going to look like.”

Rhode Island FC are a relatively new project, established only in 2019 and they will have just two after Bermuda to prepare for their maiden season in professional football.

“After this trip we have two more games,” Smith said. “Both matches will be at home and we won’t be travelling so this will be our last away trip.”

Smith, who was appointed the first Rhode Island head coach and general manager in March last year, is not ruling out the possibility of his team returning to Bermuda every year.

“It depends on how it goes for both parties,’’ Smith said. “If it’s worthwhile for the BFA and for us, it’s certainly something we can consider but we haven’t thought that far.

“We’ll get through this one and re-evaluate to see how it looks for both of us on the back end of it.”