Harry McConkey will once again take charge of Northern Ireland in the Regions Cup with the squad departing for Moldova on Sunday where they will take part in the Intermediate round of the competition.

McConkey was first involved with the Regions Cup squad ten years ago and last year he led Eastern, who were representing Northern Ireland, to a superb sixth place finish at the tournament.

And that result meant that Eastern, who will again represent Northern Ireland, go straight through to the Intermediate round and avoided the Preliminary round.

Eastern have been drawn in a group that includes hosts Moldova, Ukraine and red hot favourites Spain and McConkey admits that missing out on the Preliminary round has its pros and cons.

“Obviously, it’s great to get that passage straight into the Intermediate round but the Preliminary round does serve you well in terms of preparation and in getting game time. There is little room for error now, we have to hit the ground running,” commented McConkey.

Only the group winners will qualify for the Regions Cup finals and McConkey is aware that with Spain in their group it is a big ask for them to go through.

“Ourselves, Moldova and Ukraine would be around the same ranking but Spain are the clear favourites not only to come out of the group but also to win the whole thing so we know that we are up against it,” he stated.

McConkey, who will be joined on the trip by fellow Fermanagh men Ernie Conlon who is kit man and Gordon Lee who is the Vice Chairman of the Junior Committee as well as former Ballinamallard player Gerard Boyle as coach, says that preparations have went well.

“We played Warrenpoint Town, Dungannon Swifts, the Republic of Ireland a couple of times and Sligo Rovers and things have went well. We wanted to face good opposition so that we could bring the players up to the level required and we have seen the squad evolve. I feel we have moved on each game and that is what you want,” said Harry.

However, he will have an anxious wait by the phone on Saturday evening to make sure everybody comes through their respective club games.

“There will be Intermediate fixtures played on Saturday and we leave on Sunday so I’ll be waiting by the phone with fingers crossed that everybody comes through unscathed. Even though we leave the next day and it is very short notice we do have some players on stand-by in case of injuries on Saturday,” he added.