As the Bermuda Hogges head into their inaugural fixture on foreign soil, coach Kyle Lightbourne has refused to compromise his footballing principles and revert to route-one football.

Lightbourne's young charges continue their footballing education with their first ever road trip against the Harrisburg City Islanders, in Pennsylvania, tonight with their coaches' "pass-and-move" mantra echoing in their ears.

Despite watching his inexperienced team struggle to stifle the direct method of play favoured by many league rivals, Lightbourne believes adopting a similar style would be detrimental to the long-term development of Bermudian football.

"We know we possess skilful players to hurt teams and we will continue to play a passing game rather than adopt route-one," said the former Coventry City striker.

"Opposing teams have had joy using that style against us and in the short-term it could also benefit us — but that's not really what the Hogges are about.

"This team is part of a programme to improve the standard of Bermudian football and we want our teams to play football.

"People may look at our last result and say maybe we should change our style, but that would be to the detriment of this programme.

"It's still early days for us and we are learning all the time and I feel we have made progress since our first game."

The Hogges take on the Islanders on the back of a 4-1 defeat against Charlotte Eagles, which saw their inexperienced defence cruelly exposed by a barrage of long-balls.

And while Lightbourne concedes his back-line must come to terms with that robust and direct tactic, he has also pleaded for patience and support from the Hogges fan base.

"This season will be a learning curve for the Bermuda Hogges and the players will go back to their domestic clubs all the better for the experience," he said.

"Already we are more aware of what is required from us in this league, but things won't change overnight and people need to be patient.

"Sometimes we enjoy a neat passage of play, with three or four passes, but then we are caught out by a long ball.

"We are drumming into our defence advice on how to deal with it but, again, these things take time."

The Hogges are already familiar with the problems posed by tonight's opponents having faced the Islanders twice already this season.

They opened the campaign with a double-header against the fourth-placed side who came out on top on both occasions with 1-0 victories. But Lightbourne is hoping the Hogges' first away game will bring with it a much desired debut win.

"We know all about the Islanders as they have already beat us twice this season," added Lightbourne.

"We conceded a sloppy goal in the first game but the second match was a lot closer.

"But this is our first game away and it's an exciting time for everyone involved — maybe it will coincide with our first victory."

Team captain Kwame Steede is expected to make his first start of the season following injury and could replace the injured Sammy DeGraff in midfield.

Meanwhile strikers Steven Astwood and Lloyd Holder are also slight doubts after picking up knocks against the Eagles.