Former Sierra Leone head coach Johnny McKinstry has been named new Rwanda national football team tactician replacing Stephen Constantine, who resigned in January.

The 29-year-old announced on his twitter handle on Friday afternoon that, “I am delighted to confirm that I have accepted @rwanda_fa’s (Rwanda Football Association twitter handle) offer to become head coach of the Rwanda national team.”

McKinstry, who has been a favourite since the four-man shortlist was announced over a fortnight ago, beat Hans Michael Weiss (Germany), Jose Manuel Ferreira de Morais (Portugal) and Engin Firat (Germany/Turkey) to the top football job in Rwanda.

The delighted Irishman has revealed his excitement at commencing his job immediately with preparing the Amavubi Stars for the international friendly game against Zambia on March 29 in Lusaka. He is expected in the country by Sunday to start training sessions.

Most notably, among his priorities is to prepare the Amavubi for the 2016 African Nations Championship (Chan) that will be hosted in Rwanda from January 16-February 7.

McKinstry will also prepare the U-23 national side that will take on Somalia in the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifier next month as well as the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers that start in October.