Bermuda?s senior national soccer team held their first training session under new coach Kyle Lightbourne at BAA Field on Saturday with more than three quarters of those those included in the squad failing to show up.

Lightbourne named a total of 37 players in his new-look squad just days after being appointed last Monday, but only nine of them bothered to attend Saturday?s session.

While admitting those numbers were disappointing, the former Coventry City striker said he was ?reasonably pleased? by the enthusiasm shown by those who did attend.

Lightbourne was appointed as successor to Kenny Thompson by Bermuda Football Association exactly a week ago ? and his first task will be to prepare a side for the Copa Caribe competition due to be held in the Cayman Islands next month.

However, BFA officials have yet to establish contact with the Caribbean island which has recently been ravaged by two hurricanes.

?I am going to prepare the team as if the competition is still going on until I hear otherwise,? said an optimistic Lightbourne, whose contract as national coach officially begins this Friday.

?Normally it takes a couple of sessions in order to get to know everyone?s pattern of play and for the players to get into a groove. But the main thing is that training has resumed.?

Saturday?s emphasis was placed on some of the fundamental aspects of the game, Lightbourne revealed.

?It wasn?t an intense workout,? he added. ?We did a few warm-ups and some technique work and also a bit of possession ball drills or ?keep ball? as they call it in England. And in total the session lasted about an hour and a half . . . very short and sharp.?

Assisting Lightbourne over the weekend was former North Village ?keeper George Hayward.

The national team will train again at BAA Field this evening. And Lightbourne will be looking for a better turn-out.

?I was more disappointed with some of the players who I?d seen earlier in the week who said they would attend practice but failed to show,? said the new coach. ?That part was disappointing but I was aware that some of them (players) had work commitments over the weekend.

?But I?m prepared to give it about two or three sessions and if anyone doesn?t show up, then I will be looking at different alternatives.

?Overall I think the session went OK as the guys were informed on what they were going to be doing. This is something I intend to do prior to every training session. . . get everyone on the same page and then stick to the session plan.

?Obviously at times we might have to change our game plan because of numbers. But I am always equipped with two separate plans for training . . . one for large groups and the other for smaller groups.?

Upon his appointment as coach last week, Lightbourne promptly recalled Baltimore Blast professional midfielder David Bascome as well as including a host of other new faces in his training squad, stating: ?The door is still open for anyone else to join the team.?