AFC Portchester youngster Brandon Chebby preparing to take part in an international tournament in Ethopia

The AFC Portchester youngster will link up with his national team next month ahead of the competition in Ethiopia which starts in July.

Chebby, 20, who joined the Royals' under-23s squad last month, is celebrating another international call-up having represented Burundi s senior squad in the Bangabandhu Cup last year.

He was part of the team who were beaten finalists against Palestine in the tournament held in Bangladesh - featuring three times.

Chebby is again hoping Burundi can go far in the CECAFA Cup, a competition involving countries from central and Eastern Africa.

He said: 'This will be a big, big thing for me. I feel like this will give me more exposure.

'This has been my goal for a very long time so now the chance has come I’ve got to take it with both hands and do what I can do.

‘I feel like we’ve got a strong team and I feel like we’ve got a chance. We’ve just got to work hard and see what we can do.

‘It’s just a matter of who wants it more; you never know, but I think we’ve got a big chance.'

Chebby, whose dad Warren was born in Burundi, a landlocked country of just under 11 million people in central Africa, plans to make sure he's in the best condition for the tournament. He is due to travel to Sweden for a two-week individual training camp at the end of this month.

The Southampton-based attacker will then link up with the Burundi under-23 squad in June before the CECAFA Cup kicks off on July 3.

When Chebby heads out to Sweden to start his preparations on May 30, he'll have had a few games under his belt for AFC Portchester under-23s.

So far, things have gone well since making the move to the Royals and he netted on his debut after coming off the bench against Sholing under-23s in the Hampshire Development U23 East division.

He also struck twice in last week’s 3-2 win at Winchester City that assured the Royals of at least runners-up spot.

Chebby added: 'The set up, the system, the coaches, the boys are all so welcoming (at Portchester). I feel like this team can help me get better as a person and help me play better as well.'

Gosport Borough could have wrapped up the U23 East title at the weekend if they had avoided defeat at Winchester in their final game, but instead they lost 1-0.

They are still massive favourites to win the title - Portchester need to beat Sholing by at least 10 goals in their final game next Thursday to pip Borough for the silverware.