SOUTHEND United goalkeeping coach Lee Harrison has received his own international call-up - for Gibraltar.

Harrison flies out to work with the country’s keepers in the build-up to their matches.

And the 46-year-old is thoroughly enjoying his involvement with Gibraltar.

“It’s been great going out there for the games and it’s something I’ve really been enjoying,” said Harrison, who has helped ahead of Gibraltar’s last four matches.

“My main job is with Southend and it won’t interfere with that but this is something a little bit different and it’s been very interesting to see how things work.

“The team is in its infancy in terms of international football but the aim is to improve every time we play and I think we’ve definitely been able to do that.

“We’re never going to be another Iceland because the pool of players is so small but we can aim to keep getting better.

“Unfortunately we lost 9-0 to Belgium in one of the games I helped with and I still get stick for that here, but I did try to explain we have policemen and firemen in our team.”

Harrison was invited to become part of the Gibraltar coaching team by head coach Jeff Wood, who was Harrison’s goalkeeping coach while at Barnet.

And Harrison is enjoying working with Gibraltar’s number one Deren Ibrahim, who plays his club football for Dartford.

“Deren being local helps and I get over to see him play whenever I can,” said Harrison.

“It works out well and it’s good to be a part of.

“We were also in the same World Cup qualifying group as Jason Demetriou’s Cyprus team so we were able to find out a bit more about our opposition!”

However, Harrison remains firmly focused on the Shrimpers and helping Mark Oxley to maintain his impressive start to the season.

“Mark was playing very well before he got injured last season and he’s carried that on at the start of this season too,” said Harrison.

“Because of the injury, he worked all the way through the summer, just like Ted Smith did too, and he’s getting the benefit of that now.

“He’s just had a little one and he’s in a really good place at the moment.”