Bermuda coach John Barry Nusum is eyeing three points as his side kick off their Concacaf Nations League campaign against Guadeloupe this afternoon.

Nusum’s team take on the highest-ranked team in League B Group B at Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia at 4pm Bermuda time and will be looking to take advantage of playing the game on neutral territory.

“We want to put on a good show to start the Nations League,” Nusum told The Royal Gazette.

“Against the top-ranked team in our group, Guadeloupe will be tough. They’re a good team and they’ll be tough to play against as they played at the last Gold Cup.

“They’re a very strong team, physical and they’ve got some good players so it will definitely be a good test for us. It’s good for us and let’s get off on the right foot and start with the big boys of the group.

“We want to put in a performance that keeps us in and around the game so that we can get a result out of it, whether it be a draw or a win, but we definitely want to put some points on the board to start the campaign.”

Nusum, who is assisted by Dandy Town coach Jarreau Hayward and his PHC counterpart Cecoy Robinson, met up with his full squad in St Lucia on Tuesday.

“Right now the camp atmosphere is very positive,” the coach said.

“It was good to see everybody in one space on Tuesday. It’s a positive vibe around the camp and I think the players know what’s at stake.

“A lot of the information was given to the boys via Zoom calls, so they have a long list of how we want to play and what we’re looking to do.

“They understand the concepts that we’ve been trying to implement, at least visually they understand. It’s now a matter of implementing on the field of play.”

While he secured most of his targets for the start of the Gold Cup qualifying campaign, the coach lamented the absence of forward Kane Crichlow, who is on the comeback trail after injury.

“We have a few guys that were injured,” Nusum said.

“Kane Crichlow is just coming back from injury. He is a massive player for us, but I know he’s been injured for a few weeks and then just coming back with his team.

“His injury space didn’t allow for him to be with us, but that happens in sports in general, where you play sports and people get injured.

“It’s unfortunate that Kane, one of our better players, isn’t available to put a jersey on for the start of our campaign but hopefully by November he’ll be fully fit and we can have another go with him involved.”

Nusum has made one big call in his first squad by leaving out goalkeeper Dale Eve, who captained the side for the majority of matches under former coach Michael Findlay.

“It’s just not necessarily anything that Dale’s done wrong,” the former Bermuda forward said.

“Just a different change and we’ve got a couple of good young goalkeepers in Milai Perott, Jahquil Hill and Coleridge Fubler.

“Jahquil has been putting in some work over the summer, so it’s just a bit of a reward for those guys as well. Dale is still part of our long list and our group as well.

“Dale’s been around the camp for a long time and he actually played when I was playing. I have massive respect for Dale, I’ve known him for a long time and watched him come into the national team.

“We’re in a bit of a transition phase and that always happens. It happened when I was playing and I got older. The transition has to happen at some point and you don’t know the qualities of leaders until they actually have to lead.

“We are in our transition phase of making sure that we have the right people to still lead the same way that the Dale Eves of the world lead the team.”

With Eve omitted, veteran forward Nahki Wells is among the leadership options for the coach.

“Nahki is the leader on and off the field,” Nusum added.

“The players all look up to him. A lot of these guys are young enough that he would have been their inspiration to start playing football, so it’s definitely a positive having Nahki around the group.

“Nahki is our best export and it’s always good to have your best players playing for the team. He’s always shared his commitment to Bermuda and we’re excited to have him as part of the group as well.”