BERMUDA national football boss Kenny Thompson is aiming to get the team to the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Championships in December.

But he has again railed against Bermuda's stop-start national programme which makes that goal all the more difficult.

Bermuda face St. Martin, Antigua and first-round hosts Cayman's at the end of next month but he says there are no friendlies booked to help the squad prepare.

Thompson, who quit over the same problem of lack of matches in his last stint at the helm, said he is willing to be patient but he urged administrators to do more.

"Our goal has to be the finals in Jamaica in December," said Thompson.

Bermuda face Antigua and Barbuda in the opening match on August 27 which could prove to be the toughest of the ties. Antigua lie 135 in the world rankings, some way behind Bermuda at 118.

But Thompson noted Antigua only lost 3-4 at home to regional powerhouse Cuba before collapsing 4-0 away.

"They came out of it with a decent result so we can assume they are relatively strong but we know what we are capable of with an excellent result against Trinidad in the first leg."

Bermuda then face Cayman on August 29 and Saint-Martin on August 31.

Bermuda will need a top-two finish in Caymans and the same result in the next group stage in the Fall ahead of the finals involving eight teams.

"We have to be looking at least, realistically, a semi-final position." But he added: "Too often in our country with sport we want all of the nice things ¿ winning ¿ but we are very lax in putting all of the components in place.

"We should be more active with matches. We had a good momentum with the World Cup but at this point in time we only know our next official match is on August 27."

Thompson hoped for at least two between the end of the World Cup campaign and the Digicel but laments nothing is booked.

"In the past we had to wait until someone wanted to play us and then see if we had the money to do it.

"Now we have the money to put together an international match calendar and we should be signing off on contracts months in advance of an international date.

"With that in mind we could plan the domestic schedule around those international matches so we know way in advance on the FIFA dates in November then we schedule no league matches around that date."

But what typically has happened, said Thompson, is international matches are scheduled with a couple of weeks notice so the domestic dates get re-arranged and the season stretches into the latter part of April.

Better planning will help ensure players aren't going into big games physically drained, said the national boss.

Thompson will get together with all the players on August 9.

Many of the national side play for the Bermuda Hogges and Thompson said that can be a double-edged sword.

"It's good that the players become accustomed to playing in difficult matches (with the Hogges) which is the biggest benefit for the national team."

However when results aren't going well it can be a psychological let-down says Thompson.

"That then affects the physical energy the guys are putting out," he added.

He said the BFA needed to really pay attention to the how the Hogges games, domestic league games and international matches are scheduled to make sure players weren't pushed too hard.

"At the moment there is no real cooperation.

"You can get a situation where the players get very, very fatigued."

With the USL running from April to August the Bermuda league programme needed to be wrapped up by March argued Thompson.

He also reckons fitness experts could also give input on making sure players were at their optimum rather than overstretched.

"I think the BFA have to take a lead in this as the governing body for football in Bermuda."