TEENAGER Nathan Moriah-Welsh revealed a chance encounter whilst playing for Cherries' second string led to him earning an international call-up.

Moriah-Welsh is currently in the Caribbean as part of the Guyana squad for this month's 2022 World Cup qualifying double-header.

The midfielder was an unused substitute during a 3-0 defeat to Trinidad & Tobago last week, but will hope to make his debut for the nation on Tuesday, when they take on the Bahamas.

The former Reading youngster is yet to represent Cherries' first team, but was on the bench for the first time for the FA Cup quarter-final defeat against Southampton last time out.

Discussing his call-up for Guyana in an interview with the Cherries website, the 19-year-old explained: "It was when the Bournemouth under-23s played QPR and one of their players was a Guyana international.

“He messaged me after the game to ask if I’d ever thought about playing for Guyana, which at the time I hadn’t – but he got me in touch with the head scout Faizal Khan who gave me more information.

“He told me about where the football federation was heading and what their vision was. I had two choices - Grenada on my father’s side or Guyana on my mother’s, and I ultimately chose Guyana.”

Moriah-Welsh is one of a number of England-based players in the Guyana squad.

Terence Vancooten of Stevenage, Kingstonian's Kadell Daniel, Gloucester City forward Keanu Marsh-Brown and Colchester United winger Callum Harriott all started during the loss to Trinidad, as well as captain Sam Cox, who plies his trade for Hampton & Richmond Borough in National League South.

“I’ve been to Guyana when I was younger,” explained Moriah-Welsh.

"It’s a lovely place. My grandparents go on a four-to-six month holiday there every few years. Actually, they went at the start of 2020 and due to the pandemic they’ve had about a year or so out there as they can’t get back to England.

“I wasn’t originally allowed to go as the games were in Guyana which is a red zone and Bournemouth weren’t happy with me going to a red zone and having to quarantine.

“Then they got changed to the Dominican which suited everyone in England better. I was really happy when I heard they were being played here, it’s a beautiful warm country and the two things I like to do is play football and travel so it’s a perfect situation for me.

“This is actually my second call-up, but my first official trip. My first was in November last year when we were due to play Suriname, but the pandemic stopped that.

“This time the team’s operations manager rang me and asked if I’d like to come out and represent Guyana which I agreed to very quickly.

“I think I’ve integrated into the squad well. There’s a mix of foreign-based players and Guyana-based players who were born in Guyana.

“It feels like a real family, I understand the accent of the Guyana-born lads and I’ve gelled with most of them over the past few days.

“I know a few of the foreign-based players, I flew later than the squad due to being involved in the FA Cup and I travelled with Terence Vancooten who plays for Stevenage. He’s a very good ball-playing centre-back. He’s helped me get settled in well.

“The training hasn’t been too different to at Bournemouth – the only thing different is the heat! I’m used to training at a high intensity, but the heat took me by surprise slightly. But everyone seems sharp and there’s a real eagerness to push each other in training.”