An under-strength Bermuda Hogges team will be without a number of influential players when they face Western Mass Pioneers today.

Defensive lynchpins Kevin Richards and Kofi Dill, left back Johhny Ball and midfielder Sammy DeGraff were all unable to travel to Massachusetts yesterday due to work and family commitments.

Franchise president Shaun Goater admitted he was concerned about the travelling party's lack of defensive reserves, but backed the missing quartet's understudies to be up to the task.

"We have a few players missing, not through injury, but through general work and family commitments," he said. "We will now have to give an opportunity to a few of the guys who have not yet played this season.

"The players missing are all top guys in terms of their ability and attitude. They will certainly be missed.

"We don't have the defensive strength in depth we would like, but I believe the players who come in are capable of performing well for us - they wouldn't be in our squad otherwise."

Today's match is the Hogges' first away outing since their opening day horror show against Charlotte Eagles, which finished 6-0. Goater feels his team have matured since that disappointing display.

"We are on the back of few good performances and we have a couple of wins behind us since the Eagles game," he said. "As a team we have learned that we can't win every game - we're not as naive as we use to be.

"We are the away team and the onus is on Pioneers to play the attractive football, not us. It's not a case of just playing for a draw, but we want to make it as difficult as possible for them and prevent them building up any kind of pattern in their play.

"They're a footballing side with a big Portuguese community and we know it's going to be a difficult game for us."

The Hogges take on Western Mass Pioneers at 8.30 p.m. (Bermuda time) at the Lusitano Stadium.