Inverleith have a tough draw in the EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge 1.

The dethroned Scottish indoor champions open their campaign on Friday against Slovakian side S K Senkvice.

Later the same day they square-up to A D Lousada from Portugal and finish their Pool A games against Norwegian side Kringsja Sports Klubb on Saturday morning.

Then the Scots play cross-over ties depending on where they finish in the pool.

Inverleith finished third in the recent Scottish indoor title chase behind first-time winners Western Wildcats from Glasgow and runners-up Grove Menzieshill from Dundee.

Coach Stuart Neave said Inverleith would be at full strength for the tournament and they had trained hard before leaving.

The Kinross-based playcaller said: “There are some strong teams in the tournament so it will be important for us to start well.

“Our initial goal is to ensure we reach the top two in the group stages and reassess on completion of the group matches.”

Website | + posts

Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.