HARRY Panayiotou will make Barrow AFC history tomorrow halfway around the world – and manager Paul Cox hopes he returns to Holker Street all the better for it.

The 21-year-old former Leicester City striker is set to start for Saint Kitts and Nevis against French Guiana in a Caribbean Cup qualifying match on Saturday.

When he steps on to the pitch at Stade Municipal Dr Edmard Lama in Remire-Montjoly, Panayiotou – born in Leicester to a Greek Cypriot father and a Kittian mother – will become just the second player to earn international honours while on the Barrow books.

Only Billy Millar, who was twice capped by Northern Ireland, in 1930 and 1931, has worn hos country's colours while signed on at Holker Street.

A second international against Haiti is scheduled for Tuesday in Basse Terre, Saint Kitts, before Panayiotou returns to the Bluebirds camp ahead of the FA Cup fourth qualifying round match against Tranmere next Saturday.

As a player with three goals in his past four internationals, Panayiotou will hope to feature extensively in both fixtures – with Cox hopeful he can benefit from the match action.

“The first thing I said to the chairman (Paul Casson) and to Harry – I'm always brutally honest with the players – is that Harry reminds me of Byron Harrison when he first got to the club,” the AFC manager said. “He'd not had a pre-season, his fitness levels and his sharpness weren't there yet.

“The way we train, we do train at a high tempo every day, so he does need to learn and understand us. He needs to get himself into that mould. If he does that, everyone knows what a good player he is.

“These two games in the Caribbean will do him the world of good. I hope he gets two 90 minutes – he said he was going to get two 90 minutes – and then it's down to the hard work of understanding what our group do and how hard they work.”

When Panayiotou does return to Barrow and is given his chance in the team, Cox hopes he will show just why he was brought in on a deal until the end of next season.

“He's got ability, he will give us a different aspect and it gives us competition,” Cox added. “At some point, we're going to come up to a situation where questions will be asked about performances on a consistent basis.

“That's when I've got to be analytical, from goalkeeper to number 11, of who needs a rest, who needs to sit out for a week or so. This will happen – I guarantee to all our supporters that this will happen. The crowd favourite will sometimes need to sit on a bench for a few weeks.

“No-one can play 46 games – if you're doing well in the cup competitions, 50 to 56 games – at 100 per cent and put in a 100 per cent performance every week. It can't happen.

“Because I've been round the circuit so many times, I'm analytical of what's round the corner for us.”