Lenni Cirino is relishing the prospect of testing himself on the international stage following a difficult couple of years due to injury.

The Rovers Under-21 defender has been called up to the Montserrat senior squad for the first time along with his brother Raffaele, who is currently at Fleetwood.

The national team, managed by former Charlton and Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer, have a couple of friendlies against Antigua in the coming days.

“My family have a background from the Caribbean, Antigua and Montserrat,” Cirino told RoversTV.

“Me and my brother have both been called up to play for them. We will go out to play a couple of teams and meet the lads for the first time, it should be a good experience.

“We have known (it was a possibility) for a while but now we are both at an age where are playing professional football. We just want to do the best we can when we get out there.

“We had a few calls from people over there and we had to find a few things out – whether we were actually eligible to play.

“Once everything was sorted, we spoke to the manager and he was trying to get us on board. We both said let’s do it.”

Lancashire Telegraph: Lee Bowyer is in charge of the Montserrat national teamLee Bowyer is in charge of the Montserrat national team (Image: PA)

It will be the full-back’s first experience of international football and he is eager to make the most of the opportunity.

“It is something I haven’t done before so it is exciting, and to do it with my brother as well is another fantastic experience,” he continued. “We haven’t played together before so I am looking forward to it.

“I am 21 now and I want to start playing men’s football. This will definitely be a chance to showcase my abilities in the men’s game.”

The call-up comes after challenging period for the youngster, who has battled through injury problems to get back on the pitch.

There were plenty of setbacks during his recovery, but Cirino believes the journey has made him stronger.

“Hamstring injuries are not easy to come back from but I have just taken each step at a time and gone from there,” he recalled.

“Mentally, I would say it is a lot tougher than what people think. But at the end of the day, you have got to get through it.

“The toughest part is when it happens over and over again, you start to wonder if you are actually going to be able to come back from the injury.

“The more rehab I do, the stronger my legs are getting so I am happy to be in a decent place at the moment.”

Injuries are common in football but the mental aspect is sometimes overlooked, particularly for young players looking to break into the game.

“You have just got to trust your body and make sure you feel good enough to play 90 minutes or whatever the gaffer is saying at the time,” Cirino added.

“Once you know that your body is fit enough to get through the minutes, you have to keep pushing it to the max and see what you can do.

“All my life, all I have wanted to do is play football. Being out for so many months, it was difficult for me and my family because we didn’t know how things would end up.

“But you have just got to keep going, doing rehab and hope that you get to a place where you feel good enough for the starting XI.”

Having worked so hard to be back playing, the full-back is hungry to keep improving and making progress towards his goals.

“That resilience and determination, I didn’t really know I had it at the start,” he reflected.

“Once you have been out quite a few times, you grow more and more and that is what I have learnt about myself.

“I am hungrier than ever now to go back out and play football. I have been training and the lads have helped me massively, I appreciate them and the support of my family. Now, I just have to keep going.

“Short term, I just want to make sure that my body is right to play as many minutes as I can. Long term, if everything goes alright I want to play a lot more men’s football in the future.”