Bermuda will be without the services of several key squad members when they take on New England Revolution at the National Sports Centre (NSC) on Saturday night.

And national football coach Kyle Lightbourne admitted yesterday that he would have preferred to go with his strongest possible XI against the Revs in their tour opener at the Sports Centre.

Inspired by a Jamie Holmes hat-trick, New England edged Lightbourne?s squad 3-2 at the NSC on their previous visit to Bermuda last February.

Earlier this week the former English professional striker released a list of 25 players, a list that excludes the likes of Ralph Bean Jr, Carlos Smith, Kentoine Jennings, Shannon Burgess, Meshach Wade and Ottis Steede ? all veterans of the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Lightbourne has instead pinned his hopes on a more youthful team blended with the experience of overseas professionals John Barry Nusum and Damon Ming, ?keeper Timmy Figureido, defender Stanton Lewis, Domico Coddington and Stephen Astwood.

?Without a doubt I would have liked to have had some of these players? services as they are some of the better players in the Island,? Lightbourne told .

?But for whatever reasons we can never have them all at the same time. And it?s very frustrating when you can?t have your best players although I understand their reasons for not being available.?

According to the coach, most of the players not included on his list made themselves unavailable for team selection due to work commitments.

However, Village?s Bean ? one of the Premier Division?s top goalscorers this season ? remains dissatisfied with the national programme and, as such, has passed up the chance to wear a Bermuda team jersey for the first time in two-years.

?Normally people would do anything to play for their country, but not in this case,? Lightbourne added. ?But all of these players are still in my plans for the future and I?m confident we can still go out there and make a good showing over the two matches.?

Bermuda are also due to take on Jamaica?s Under 23 national squad at the Sports Centre on February 23. Jamaica last toured the Island in 2002 when Bermuda ? captained by Southampton Rangers player/coach Wade ? recorded a 2-1 win at the NSC.

Wade converted the eventual winner from the penalty spot late in the second half after Clevon Hill ? overlooked for this tour ? had cancelled Roland Dean?s first half strike.

Meanwhile, Lightbourne, who had an initial one year deal on his contract extended, is still bidding for a first win on local soil and a first win since defeating Cayman Islands in the 2004 Digicel Cup in St.Vincent.

?When you put everything into perspective a lot of our games have been against teams that are stronger than ours,? the coach said. ?So I?m not totally concerned about it (losses). But if we were consistently losing against teams we should be beating, then I would be concerned.?

Bermuda suffered crushing 5-0 and 7-0 losses to Trinidad and Tobago and Manchester City?s Youth Academy in their previous two outings and have sat idle since last June.

?Right now we just have to continue preparing ourselves for our next major competition (Digicel Cup in October) and these matches will provide us with an opportunity to gauge certain players,? Lightbourne added.

The former Coventry City striker is delighted to have the likes of Nusum and Ming at his disposal.

?This is good because they can lend some of their experiences to some of our younger players,? he said.

Dandy Town sweeper Maurice Lowe will captain Bermuda in the two matches while coach Lightbourne is expected to announce a final squad of 18 players tomorrow.