Bermuda coach Michael Findlay is delighted by the presence of five under-20 players in the senior men’s squad that will compete in the Fifa Series in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next week.

Daion Swan-DeSilva, Harry Twite, Riley Robinson, Sachiel Ming and Aunde Todd were all part of Cecoy Robinson’s squad at the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship qualifiers in St Kitts & Nevis.

While Twite, Todd and Robinson have already been part of the senior team fold, Swan-DeSilva and Ming have been called up for the first time.

“We’re very excited about the introduction of this type of youth into the group,’’ Findlay said.

“It gives us an opportunity to do a number of things. The staff really wants to have a good look at what the future looks like.

“This being a window that we are playing international matches, but they are not part of the competitive schedule in terms of World Cup qualifying, Gold Cup or Nations League.

“It gives us a great opportunity to integrate these players in and see how they do among the rest of them.”

The coach views Swan-DeSilva as a special talent who has displayed maturity and the capability to perform at a senior level.

“What we see in Daion is a player that has shown the ability specifically technically to play at a higher level,’’ Findlay added.

“We have seen in the relationship obviously that Kenny Thompson has with him at North Village. We understand him to be a mature boy for his age, which bodes well for working with senior players.

“It’s all about the future, in terms of balancing out the integration of new players and the use of the experienced players. It’s exciting to put someone like that into the group to see how he does.”

The series will act as preparation for the second stage of Concacaf qualification for the 2026 World Cup, with Bermuda set to face Honduras, Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba and Cayman Islands in group A. The first window of fixtures will commence in June, with the second window scheduled for June of next year.

Findlay pointed out that the Fifa Series is being used as a platform to create more choices for the coaching staff to choose from going forward.

“There’s a reasonable clear picture as it relates to what I would call the foundation of the squad,” he said.

“What it does do is that it gives us options now for players. It doesn’t eliminate anybody but it also doesn’t guarantee inclusion either, and that’s what we want.

“In terms of the foundation of the squad, it’s pretty easy to see. If you look at it, players that have been there consistently since I arrived.

“I don’t see necessarily massive changes but I do see opportunity to help us in areas that we feel we need help.”

Justin Donawa and Reggie Lambe are notable absentees from the team heading to Saudi Arabia, with the coach stating that he had to consider their contract situations.

Donawa has just returned to Altrincham after his month-long loan stay at Chorley, while Lambe is at Braintree Town, who are fighting for National League promotion.

“Justin Donawa has a contract issue that he has to deal with, and we want to support him in that situation because we want our players playing,” Findlay added.

“You have a veteran player in Reggie Lambe who’s been with us since I’ve been there.

“He’s got a club conflict and he had to make a decision about what he wanted to do at this moment in time, and at this moment in time, he’s chosen to remain with the club because of their play-off position.

“Again, we look to support players in this situation as best as we can because we want them playing and we want them to have success.”

Bermuda, who left for the Middle East last night, face Brunei on Friday before they clash with Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finalists Guinea three days later.“The nice thing about this set-up for us is that it sort of mirrors what we’re trying to do when we come to June,” Findlay said.“Our first game is away against Antigua & Barbuda who are ranked in and around the same area as Bermuda. Then we play Honduras at home, a team that is much higher ranked than us.

“It’s the same in this situation, we’re looking at a team from Brunei who are within touching distance of our ranking. We’re ranked higher than them but they are still that type of team in that area.

“Playing Guinea, they are a much higher-ranked team than us, so it gives us an opportunity to structure our camp and mentality to mirror what we want to do in June.”