Jonté Smith has been ruled out of Bermuda’s upcoming World Cup qualifying warm-ups against Mexico Under-23 and Puerto Rico.

The Bermuda striker is unavailable because of scheduling conflicts with his club side, Floy, who play in the Norwegian second division.

Because the matches fall outside of Fifa’s international match calendar, Smith’s club are not obligated to release him.

Bermuda will take on Mexico Under-23 on Friday at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Mexico and Puerto Rico at the National Sports Centre on June 5.

Smith featured in both legs of Bermuda’s convincing 8-0 aggregate World Cup qualifying first-round victory over Bahamas.

The 20-year-old striker is among a good blend of players keen to perfect their craft under Bermuda coach Andrew Bascome.

“The current crop of players we have is a very good mix of young and determined players who are all looking to improve as well as learn,” Smith said. “It’s really important to have players like Nahki [Wells], Reggie [Lambe] and Freddy [Hall] involved as much as possible because these guys are role models, even though they are young players. They represent the standard that we want everyone to reach in this team.”

Smith, who transferred from Finland’s Kemi Kings this year, sees no reason why Bermuda cannot beat Guatemala in the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

“The team is confident going into the Guatemala game,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day it’s two games of 90 minutes and I feel whoever wants it the most, and works the hardest, will go through to the next round.

“It definitely will be exciting and, if selected, I’ll be looking forward to playing and representing my country.”

• Tickets for the Puerto Rico game, and the second leg of Bermuda’s World Cup qualifier against Guatemala, will go on sale next Tuesday. Maurice Lowe, the Bermuda assistant coach, expects Puerto Rico to provide his side with a tough test ahead of the second round of qualifiers. “I don’t think their ranking shows exactly how good they are,” he said.