Andrew Bascome, the Bermuda coach, said his side must tighten up defensively after conceding a soft goal against Puerto Rico in last night’s friendly.

Bermuda surrendered their lead in the 24th minute when Puerto Rico midfielder Emmanuel D’Andrea Yepez headed home from six yards after being picked out from a set piece on the left-hand side.

Bascome expressed his concern at the slack marking that led to the goal and warned his players that they must improve their concentration or risk being severely punished by Guatemala.

Bermuda leave for Guatemala on Tuesday for the first leg of their second-round World Cup qualifying tie.

“I wasn’t too pleased at all with the goal we let in,” Bascome said. “To concede from a set piece was worrying.

“I was concerned with how easy we allowed that ball to go in. Their number nine [Héctor Ramos Lebrón] caused us lot of problems in the first half with his height and we didn’t really deal with that. “Sometimes you have to figure things out on the pitch. If we switch off like that against Guatemala we will get punished.”

Although Bascome said there was plenty of room for improvement, he was encouraged by the way his players adhered to his football philosophy.

“I wanted more possession going forward, so I forced the team to be more threatening rather than keeping possession for the sake of it,” said Bascome. “I was pleased with our style of play, we tried to be entertaining, although I thought we could have moved the ball a lot quicker.”

In the absence of the injured Nahki Wells, who is a doubt for next Friday’s match in Guatemala, Bascome pushed Reggie Lambe forward as part of a three-pronged attack.

Lambe could not find the goal he was looking for, chipping one effort over the bar when he probably should have driven his shot past Matthew Anibal Sánchez, the advancing goalkeeper.

Bascome, however, said he was delighted with Lambe’s workaholic performance.

“I thought Reggie was fantastic up front,” he said. “He showed good movement and I thought Reggie did very well for the team.”