Kieran Cooney & Diego Edwards: Meet Notts County teenagers called up by St Kitts and Nevis

Teenager Kieran Cooney may not have played a senior game of football yet, but he might be about to hit a surprising high note in his career by taking an unconventional leap straight onto the international stage.

The academy wing-back from Notts County, who was playing youth football for Racing Club Warwick just two years ago, has been called up alongside fellow Magpies 19-year-old Diego Edwards to represent tiny Caribbean country St Kitts and Nevis.

Edwards, whose limited experience of men's football includes loans at Nuneaton and Ossett United in the seventh and eighth tier of the English game, already has two caps for the island state, whose national team goes by the nickname of the 'Sugar Boyz' - drawn from the country's history of sugar cultivation.

It was advice from Edwards that helped Cooney's selection, but the guidance did not stop there as the forward revealed that an initiation song is expected of newcomers.

"It'll be something from Whitney Houston," Cooney smiled, when talking to BBC Sport about his potential debut against San Marino on Wednesday.

"You just have to pick out an iconic song."

A power ballad is undoubtedly a bold choice, but does he have it in his locker?

"The boys will have to wait and see," he laughed.

And Cooney knows the same can be said of him on the football pitch, having taken an unusual route to being called up to play for a country ranked 147th in the world.

'Strange feeling'

It was only after Edwards returned from matches against Saint Lucia and Guadeloupe in November, that Cooney spoke to his Notts team-mate about his own eligibility for St Kitts and Nevis.

A highlight reel was then sent to national team management and within months Cooney was given the nod for the two friendlies against San Marino - the world's lowest-ranked side.

"It's a bit of a strange feeling," said Cooney when asked what it felt like to prepare for a potential senior international debut before having the chance to do so for a club side.

"But I think I'll be ready when the time comes and I'll try to give the best account of myself.

"I've been playing football all my life, so it's just normal to have nerves and stuff like that.

"It's a good chance to get our names out there, and to experience a different type of football - adult's football.

"It's a good feeling and I'll feel a lot more comfortable with Diego there - I'll know what is coming a bit more."

'Unique' being part of Sugar Boyz

While Cooney has Edwards to thank for paving the way for selection, the striker's own introduction came "out of the blue".

Signing an apprenticeship contract with the Magpies after their promotion to League Two meant signalling his international eligibility.

When handed his debut, Edwards became the first homegrown Notts County player to earn a full international cap while still at the club for more than 130 years - dating back to when goalkeeper George Toone and midfielder Alfred Shelton played for England.

For a teenager from The Meadows - an inner-city estate right by Notts' Meadow Lane ground - he has always identified with the country where is grandfather was born and emigrated from alongside his own parents in 1965.

"I've always seen myself as being from St Kitts and Nevis," Edwards said. "It's always been a part of me.

"It has been very emotional and to get called up again feels out of this world because it makes not just me proud, but my family and friends as well.

The islands of St Kitts - also known as St Christopher - and Nevis cover an area of just 261 sq km, which is smaller than the size of Birmingham

"Obviously some of them were born there, and it means everything to them. And for them to bring the culture here and to give to not just me, but people in the community, shows how big it really is."

When Edwards made his debut for St Kitts and Nevis last year, it was the first time he had ever been to the country.

It was a significant personal journey he took, but by also becoming a fully fledged part of the Sugar Boyz - a nickname he "loves for being unique" - meant taking his football career to a whole new level.

He came off the bench for his debut against Saint Lucia, replacing Romaine Sawyers - the Cardiff City midfielder, who is St Kitts and Nevis' most recognisable star.

"I want to learn as much as I can to help get me to where I want to go and become the best I can," Edwards said.

"When I came back in November, it gave me more motivation to be confident to do the best I can to help Notts, as well as prove myself."