National soccer coach Kyle Lightbourne has added six new faces to the senior national squad ? but he?s not revealing their identity.

Making good on a recent promise, the former English League striker has cast his net wider in search of dedicated players he believes will be more committed to national team duty after many on his original list of 37 failed to show up for training, citing a variety of reasons ranging from injuries and work commitments to Regiment duty.

However, Lightbourne opted yesterday to keep his cards close to his chest and refused to reveal the names of the six new players.

The newly-appointed coach said the players he had selected first had to be approved by Bermuda Football Association?s technical committee, while their respective clubs had also to be notified of their inclusion in national squad training.

Bermuda are currently preparing for next month?s Digicel Cup competition in the Cayman Islands.

Although those preparations have been hampered by a poor turn-out of players for training, Lightbourne said numbers were gradually on the rise.

The national team have held two practice sessions at the National Sports Centre in the past six days both of which were ?well attended?, according to the former English pro.

?I do have a few other names but I want to get in contact with the players first to find out exactly where they stand,? Lightbourne confirmed yesterday.

?But it (new list of players) is now in the hands the technical committee and the players? clubs will also have to be notified first before I reveal any names.?

Lightbourne, successor to former national coach Kenny Thompson who took on the job in an interim capacity, said he was generally pleased to see overall numbers steadily on the incline, although he admitted it would be even better to have more players at his disposal.

?We?ve had a better response to training in terms of numbers during the past two sessions. . . actually they were quite good,? he added.

?It appears as though things are finally getting better.?

After only five out of a possible 37 players turned up for one session two weeks? ago, Lightbourne made it clear that such apathy would not be tolerated under his watch.

?Players need to make time . . . that?s the way I see it,? Lightbourne told during a recent interview.

?Everyone talks about being paid but this is where it all starts. And I?m not going to stand for this . . . it?s just not good enough.?

While some players have been excused from training for ?legitimate? reasons, there are those who have yet to establish contact with either the coach or the association to explain reasons for their absence, said Lightbourne.

?Some players seem to have excuses for whatever reasons for not turning up,? he added. ?But some of them are running out of time.?