Keishen Bean could still feature for Bermuda in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bahamas, provided he comes through Sunday’s Premier Division match for North Village.

The midfielder was forced to pull out of Bermuda’s two friendly matches with Grenada because of a hamstring injury, but he remains in coach Andrew Bascome’s plans providing he can prove his fitness this weekend when North Village play league leaders Somerset Trojans at Bernard Park.

The Bermuda Football Association is expected to today name a squad for the trip to Bahamas that will include the professionals and several college players. Another player fighting to be fit in time for the matches is Nahki Wells, the Huddersfield Town striker, who Bascome is keen to name as captain.

Wells has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, missing his club’s last three matches and is still a doubt for this weekend. It is a situation that the BFA is watching very closely.

“I just spoke with him, we are hopeful that he will return to playing prior to the Bahamas matches,” Richard Todd, the BFA’s National Academy director, said yesterday. “The club will keep us updated on his status, but he is eager to be involved. We will continue to monitor him over the next week.

“He’s been named as captain and is quite eager to play. There are two match opportunities for him to play prior to the Bahamas trip so we would like to see him return. The club will advise us and then we will discuss with Nahki accordingly, but at the moment it looks like he is on track to make a return in time for the Bahamas matches.”

Wells could line up with fellow professionals Reggie Lambe, Freddie Hall, Dale Eve, Jonté Smith and Rai Simons, who came back for the two matches last weekend against Grenada.

“We will have a list of standby players who will be ready for selection if required,” Todd said. “Keishen’s prognosis is not as bad as initially feared and we will put him through a fitness test this weekend and assess him coming through North Village’s Premier Division match.”

The college players pushing for a place in the squad include Tre Ming, Danté Leverock, Marco Warren, Zeiko Lewis, Jalen Harvey, William White, Justin Donawa and Mauriq Hill.

“The competition for places is quite keen, the coaches were spoiled in having the luxury of a lot of choices and the natural reaction of a player is to be disappointed in not being picked,” Todd said.

“Every player wants to play but the talent of this group is at an extremely high level so it will not be easy for the coaches to narrow it down. Those players not involved at this moment, it does not mean that in the second round they cannot be included.”

Added Todd: “We want to encourage those players to continue to train hard and fight for a place in the team and when they get their chance to take it well.

“That’s what it should be like at the national level. With each match I believe this team is going to get better.”

Bascome will be assisted in the Bahamas by Maurice Lowe and John Barry Nusum while they also have a goalkeeping coach in John Moreira, Bermuda-born but now living in Canada where he runs the Eurostar Goalkeeping Academy.

The team is scheduled to leave for the Bahamas on March 22, with the match set for March 25, before the second leg in Bermuda on March 29.