Bermuda coach Michael Findlay is looking forward to the national football team returning to action next month.

With the next Fifa international window running from March 23 to 31, Findlay wants to use that time to take part in competitive matches as his team prepare to play for the first time since ending their historic World Cup qualifying campaign in November.

“The goal is to have two matches in the March window,” Findlay told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s easier for us to go away than to host and we’re going to try to play in a competition so it will 100 per cent not be on the island.

“There are a number of different options on the table at this stage and hopefully in the next couple of days, we will have finalised scenarios that fit our entire planning process.”

Bermuda’s most important fixtures this year come in the Nations League, which starts in September and acts a qualifier for the Gold Cup, and Findlay is hoping the matches in March will help prepare his side for bigger games on the horizon.

“This gives us an opportunity to mirror what all international windows look like,” he said.

“Match play is important to us because it gives us an opportunity to continue to work on our game model and what our strategic plan is from a tactical point of view.

“It also gives us an opportunity to look at players that we may not necessarily usually look at. We get to play players that maybe have not played a lot of minutes over the last number of camps.

“The windows in March and June are incredibly important because it sets us up for the Nations League, which is a qualifier for the Gold Cup in 2027. Ultimately our goal in 2026 is to end the year qualified for the 2027 Gold Cup.”

Domestic players got a chance to impress Findlay and his technical staff when they featured in a Bermuda Select squad against Portland Hearts of Pine at Flora Duffy Stadium.

Only one of the two intended matches was played, with the USL League One side winning 3-0 before the final fixture was called off due to bad weather.

Findlay missed the opening match while attending Fifa technical meetings in Switzerland but was back on island in time for the scheduled second match, which he converted into a training session.

During Findlay’s absence, assistant John Barry Nusum worked with goalkeeper coach John Moreira and under-20 coaching staff Cecoy Robinson and Jensen Rogers to work with the team.

“First and foremost, the most important thing is that we continue our search for players,” Findlay said.

“We have to be prepared to continue the process of evaluating, assessing and unearthing some players we haven’t seen before. It was very good for us to be able to give Cecoy and Jensen an opportunity to get some field time before they go away with the under-20s.

“Coaches also have to prepare accordingly. Working with all of the staff in the national programme, this gave them an opportunity to work with players of that standard and on construction of sessions.

“It gave them an opportunity to see what we’re trying to do in regards to our overall environment. We hope they’re able to use that going into the under-20s, but also when they’re assessing and evaluating talent domestically, because they live and work in that world.

“John Barry Nusum and John Moreira were there from the senior staff, so we had good eyes around the whole process. It was difficult and disappointing that the second game did not happen. But I think that was a good decision by the BFA regarding the safety of everyone involved.

“We used that as a training opportunity, so it gave me an opportunity to see the players in a session and see what they’ve been working on throughout the week with the attending staff.”

Having listened to his key lieutenants, Findlay believes there are players that have earned the chance to step up the national squad.

“I certainly believe we saw some performances that were worthy of guys being added to our key player list,” the said.

“We saw some good performances from Malachi Trott and La Zai Outerbridge in midfield. Elisha Darrell up front, Zico Seymour and Senoj Mitchell impressed, while Joshua Joseph also had a very good game.

“Jahquil Hill had an excellent game in goal. Jorj Dublin had a very good game and we also had Arnezha Astwood coming in and we haven’t seen him in a while.

“Those are the ones that we felt had good performances and application. Of course, we know players like Zeiko Lewis and he brought some veteran influence and was really important for guiding the group both on and off the field.

“We gave those opportunities to players that we hadn’t seen, while Danté Leverock didn’t play and we were being very careful with Lejaun Simmons.

“All in all, the idea and the objective that we’d set out was met. The only unfortunate thing about the week was not having that second game.”