Northern Ireland to play Albania away in March friendly

Northern Ireland will travel to play Albania in a friendly international match on Wednesday 3 March, with the National Stadium, Tirana the venue.

The kick-off time for the fixture against the nation currently ranked 96th in the Fifa world rankings has yet to be confirmed.

The last time Northern Ireland played Albania was in a World Cup qualifier in Zurich on 10 September, 1997.

That match ended in a 1-0 defeat and was Bryan Hamilton's last game as boss.

There had been speculation that Nigel Worthington's side would face Belgium or Austria on that date but the Albanians will now be the opponents.

Worthington has verbally agreed a new contract to manage Northern Ireland during the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

The new qualifying campaign will begin in September.