Assistant national coach Paul Scope has moved to allay fears that many of Bermuda?s senior footballers would be unavailable for the team?s crucial Digicel Cup play-offs early in the New Year.

If Kyle Lightbourne?s men make it through to the eight-team finals in Trinidad, which begin on January 12, by finishing top of a play-off group containing the Dominican Republic and Haiti, their stay in the Caribbean could last for up to three weeks.

And that has led to speculation that some might have trouble taking that much time off work.

But pressed on the matter yesterday, Scope said that despite some initial anxiety over player availability, he was now confident ?most if not all? of those in the frame for selection would be able to make the trip ? including players based overseas such as Damon Ming, Kevin Richards, Khano Smith and John Barry Nusum.

?There was a meeting last night with the players and the turn-out was a very healthy one,? said Scope, who will be in sole charge of today?s planned training session with Lightbourne away on vacation only two weeks before the team depart.

?The situation is a little complicated in that if we fail to progress from the qualifying group we?ll only be down in Trinidad for around a week. But if we do get through we could be there for something like three weeks ? which is obviously a fairly long time for the guys to be away from work.

?So it was important to call that meeting to get a feel for availability and having spoken with most of the players, I?m now a lot more confident.

?Apart from the injuries to Jameiko Jennings (fractured cheek) and Keith Jennings (back) we expect to be picking from pretty much a full quota of players ? probably around 25 or 26 ? and given that we?re only allowed a squad of 18, the challenge from here is to decide who should be left out.?

The squad will most likely be named on Saturday, December 30, Scope said ? adding that with the permitted size of the squad likely to be increased if Bermuda make it to the finals, those not included initially will be kept on standby and asked to fly south if required.

?If we make it to the finals, we?re looking at potentially around five games in 11 days,? he said.

?Clearly a squad of 18 is not sufficient for that sort of workload so we are currently seeking clarification from the Caribbean Football Union as to whether we will be able to increase the size of the squad once we?ve got through the group stage.?

The team are due leave for the Caribbean on January 5 and play their first game against the Dominican Republic ? a team they beat convincingly 3-1 during September?s first group stage in the US Virgin Islands ? on January 7.

Should, as expected, Haiti and Bermuda win their opening game in Port of Spain?s Hasley Crawford Stadium ? the 28,000-seater home of the Soca Warriors ? the stage will then be set for a winner-takes-all clash on the evening of January 9.