Bermuda coach John Barry Nusum is looking to shore up his team’s leaky defence as they take on Barbados in their fourth Concacaf Nations League match tonight (9pm Bermuda time).

After losing their last match against Barbados on Friday, Bermuda have conceded 11 goals and scored just four times in three matches, leaving them bottom of League B Group B with no points.

“Results are not going the way we want and we have to be better, that’s the bottom line,” Nusum told The Royal Gazette.

“Defensively, we’re leaking too many easy opportunities. We’re working hard to get our opportunities but we’re giving them easy opportunities unnecessarily. We’re not keeping good shape at all and we need to be a little bit more ruthless defensively.”

As was the case in the opening match against Guadeloupe, Nusum’s side led early against Barbados on Friday but were unable to take advantage.

“In both games, the first 20 minutes were very good,” the coach said.

“Defensively and offensively, we were getting opportunities. In this last match, we had an opportunity to go 2-0 up and we didn’t capitalise on that, that’s the difference.

“They then come down a couple minutes later and score to make it 1-1 and it changes the whole face of the game.

“We have to be more ruthless offensively, but I think defensively we have to be really locked in better than we have been individually and as a unit ― too many easy transition goals are happening.

“We play Barbados and we have to get the three points to get us started. The players understand the things that we need to be better at and the hope is that we can improve them in the game.”

Former captain Danté Leverock retired after the World Cup qualifiers last year, alongside Willie Clemons and Reggie Lambe, leaving big shoes to fill at the heart of the defence and midfield.

“It’s not just the guys that have retired,” Nusum said.

“It’s a lot of the guys that aren’t here with the team that we had planned to be in the team for various reasons.

“We’re missing a good bit of guys that would normally be in the team. We’re in a transition period with a lot of younger guys coming into the team and guys that haven’t played together before.

“However, the defensive play should still be better than we’ve seen so far both from an individual and a group standpoint. A lot of our focus is on the defensive side of the ball, making sure we can get that right.”

Bermuda will be boosted by the return of defender Jorj Dublin, who missed the last two matches through suspension after being sent off against Guadeloupe.

“It’s good to have Jorj Dublin back,” Nusum said.

“It’s been a major miss for the team not having our starting centre back with us for the last two matches. He’s a big piece of our team and not having him has definitely been a hindrance for us.”

A medical report was pending on Sunday night for Ajani Burchall, who came on for goalscorer Djair Parfitt in the 64th minute on Friday, before being substituted himself 15 minutes later.

“Ajani Burchall had a slight strain in his hamstring,” the coach added.

“We’ll see what it looks like when we get the medical record. Besides him, everyone else is fit and ready to go.”