Bermuda are heading into their World Cup qualifier against Jamaica amid upheaval among the squad and backroom staff.

The island’s best player, Nahki Wells, has not travelled after playing in the 3-0 defeat by Trinidad & Tobago, with Reese Jones Jr also heading back to England after picking up an injury on Friday night.

Enrique Russell, who missed the Trinidad match through suspension, is eligible to play against Jamaica, and Dandy Town striker David Jones Jr has been called up to the squad to replace Wells.

Despite those changes, head coach Michael Findlay is hopeful his side can perform with credit tonight (9pm) against Jamaica, who will be itching to bounce back after losing top spot in the group in a shock 2-0 defeat by Curaçao on Friday.

“The Trinidad result leaves us in a very difficult position within the qualifying process,” Findlay said. “But the objective does not change from getting a result and delivering a strong performance as individuals and from a team point of view.

“Our overarching goal remains the same of building a programme and team that will compete in big matches on a regular basis, but that means we have to eliminate the valleys.”

The changes are being rung not only among the playing squad, with Kenny Thompson leaving his position as assistant coach just a couple of weeks before this international window.

The timing was far from ideal and Findlay opted to promote foreign coach Jake Littlejohn to the national team set-up.

Littlejohn, 34, is in Bermuda for two years as part of Fifa’s Talent Development Scheme, which is aimed at developing young players from smaller nations, and he expected to be working with junior age groups and coaches to assist the next generation of Bermuda footballers.

After Thompson’s departure, Littlejohn finds himself leapfrogging John Barry Nusum into the No 2 role — much to his own surprise.

“I certainly didn’t expect to be given this opportunity, so I’m hugely thankful to Michael Findlay and the Bermuda Football Association,” Littlejohn said.

“I’ve been on the island for 16 months, working through the age groups, but now it’s brilliant to be working in and around the team. I’ve been around them a bit before this camp and it’s now an honour to be a part of it.

“I’ve already learnt a lot from Michael; being around him and learning from his experiences in the game has been great for my development.

“In the camps before, I was doing some opposition analysis, but this time it’s been a lot more practical and I’ve been with the team in the hotel. I’ve been doing a lot of session planning, taking meetings and sessions, so it’s a lot more practical and hands-on.”

Littlejohn is just over halfway through his Bermuda contract and his time here has led him to consider international football as a potential future pathway

“I’ve got another year here in Bermuda and then we’ll see what comes,” he said.

“My career has taken me to a lot of places around the world and I’ve worked in a number of countries in South East Asia and Oman before I came here.

“I worked my way up the categories in academies in England, all the way up to the Professional Development League.

“I also worked at Norwich City to under-21 level and, I’ll be honest, until I came here I never thought my career would be in international football.

“I always thought my career would take me into clubs, but since being here and working through the age groups, including being involved in the Under-17 World Cup qualifiers and now this, I’ve learnt that international football can be quite fun, so we’ll see.

“A dream of mine is definitely to be a coach in the Premier League. I don’t have a dream to be a manager, as I prefer being out on the grass and coaching, so this experience has been brilliant.”