A disgusted Shaun Goater has refused to "sugarcoat" Bermuda's failure to defeat Caribbean minnows Cayman Islands and levelled the blame squarely on the shoulders of the under performing players.

The ex-Bermuda international believes the dismal draw must serve as an urgent wake-up call for Keith Tucker's team who squandered a glorious opportunity to put one foot in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.

Goater has now called for the players to be made accountable for poor results and challenged them to show greater commitment and desire to secure their passage to the next stage of the competition.

"I can't sugarcoat our performance against Cayman," said Goater. "We can't tolerate this kind of result and I have to point the finger of blame at the players.

"Cayman were a very poor team and not in our league. Player for player we are much better than them and yet we couldn't beat them at home.

"By now this group of players should have the intelligence to beat a team like Cayman. This was an extremely important match against a below average Caribbean nation. Sometimes I don't know if it hurts the players enough because this was a rubbish result."

Goater said he was tired of hearing the usual hard luck stories and excuses and believes the players must be prepared to accept harsh criticism when they fail to deliver.

Only defensive duo Kevin Richards and Omar Shakir were exempt from Goater's stinging appraisal of the first leg and he hopes his verbal volley will motivate the rest of their teammates.

"When I played sometimes I got hammered by supporters and in the media and I'm sure Kyle Lightbourne will say the same. You never like it, it's always hurtful, but often you need it to inspire you to show them they're wrong.

"Tyrell Burgess' goal was a splendid strike, but other than Omar Shakir and Kevin Richards no player can come away with any credit. I can tell them right now that sort of showing won't be tolerated at the Hogges.

"We completely dominated them but couldn't convert our possession into goals and allowed a poor side to remain in the game. We should be taking at least a three-goal lead to Cayman in March, but instead we are stepping into the unknown with our fingers crossed."

Concerns were raised about Bermuda's qualifying preparations in November when it emerged the attendance of some players at training had initially been sporadic.

Given the magnitude of the competition Goater also feels the national team's training programme should have been in progress much earlier.

"We wasted maybe a month at the start of this campaign during the transition between Kenny Thompson and Keith Tucker - maybe that valuable time would have made a difference," he said.

"It also took far too long for some players to commit to the programme.

"I want to see players at training 15 minutes before it starts, getting the extra work in.

"It's too late to put that work in when you're out the World Cup in the first round of the qualifiers.

"I hope the players realise just how important this is.

" It's very important to me and I find it upsetting because this was such as crucial game.

" A game we could, and should, have easily won."