National coach Kenny Thompson has challenged his players to etch their names into the record books by becoming the first Bermuda team to reach the Gold Cup.

The Gombey Warriors have never qualified for CONCACAF's showpiece competition but Thompson believes it is a realistic target for his current crop of players.

Bermuda's arduous mission begins in Cayman Islands next week when they embark on their Digicel Caribbean Cup campaign in the backdrop of increased expectancy levels since beating Trinidad.

"Reaching the Gold Cup is our target and I think it's a realistic target," said Thompson. "We should definitely reach the second round of the Digicel Cup and I don't think there's any reason why we can't make the finals.

"The World Cup qualifiers are a little different and you just want to progress as far as you can. But we can be a top four team in the Caribbean region and we've already shown what we are capable of against a top team like Trinidad.

"There are always high expectations and the Trinidad win has probably raised those expectations."

Bermuda will be without a raft of key players for the first group stage of the competition with the likes of Kevin Richards, Omar Shakir and Kofi Dill all ruled out. But Thompson is adamant they still have enough quality in their ranks to progress from their group, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman and St. Martin.

While St. Martin should not pose Bermuda any serious trouble, Thompson has warned his team to be wary of potential banana skins Antigua and Cayman.

"We should know very well having sprung a surprise against Trinidad that we have to be on our guard against teams people may expect us to beat," he said. "We certainly can't afford to be over confident and we respect all of our opponents.

"We've had to make some enforced changes due to the unavailability of a number of players but we still have the quality to do the job.

"When you're missing guys like Kofi, Kevin and Omar you can't say you're at full strength.

"Having said that we're confident in the defensive players we have picked.

"Antonio (Lowe) has the experience now and Kris Frick is a steady player."

Bermuda's backroom team for the first round of the Digicel Cup includes head coach Thompson, technical director Derek Broadley, technical advisor Gary Darrell, goalkeeper coaches Vic Bettinelli and George Hayward and manager Stan Bean.

Assistant coach Richard Todd will not make the trip due to family commitments.