Paul Scope has backed striker Jamie Smith to help fire Bermuda Hogges to their first away win of the season when they tackle fellow basement strugglers Western Mass Pioneers tonight.

Smith has been mainly used as a substitute this campaign but Scope believes the Hamilton Parish target man has started to come to terms with the extra demands of the professional level.

He opened his goalscoring account with a powerful header in Hogges' 7-2 defeat against Richmond Kickers last weekend and caused the tabletoppers' defence problems during a much-improved second half.

"Jamie Smith scored a great header for us against Kickers," said club secretary Scope. "He's had a tough start to the league which is not untypical for all our players when they first started playing at this level.

"It takes a good year to get used to this league and he's coming off the bench and starting to look the part for us. He's starting to do the things we thought Jamie would do all the time, and probably will do next year."

Bottom-of-the-table Hogges have lost all seven of their overseas matches this campaign but are just one point behind Pioneers who have two games in-hand.

Although confidence is sure to be low in Hogges' dressing room following their heavy defeat against Kickers, they should fancy their chances against a Pioneers' side whose last two games have seen them well beaten by Wilmington Hammerheads and Charlotte Eagles.

"Towards the end of the season I think the gap starts to show a little bit between the teams who are full-time and part-time," added Scope.

"Interestingly enough Western Mass are probably the team most like us in the league in that they are part-timers. We were more than a match for them at home in a game which we drew.

"We're not going out there thinking that we will automatically lose just because we have lost all of our away games this season."

"We did recover in the second half (against Richmond Kickers) and players didn't give up and showed a lot of character," added Scope. "Richmond were very, very good. I think they are the best team in the league. They needed to win big to go top and were hungry for it."

Hogges take on Pioneers tonight at 8.30 p.m (Bermuda time) and at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be played at Lusitano Stadium.