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Lisbie twins have defences seeing double at Braintree

Some National League defenders will be seeing double for the rest of the season - literally.

Identical twins Kyrell and Kyreece Lisbie, both former Watford youth players, have been reunited at Braintree Town.

And between them, they have hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok, where they post videos about the highs and lows of life as a young footballer.

"A lot of young people are in the situation of rejections and they feel like giving up and they see our story and how many times we were told 'no' but we kept going and eventually got the yes," Kyreece told BBC Essex Sport.

"I think that gives young people a boost so we're definitely going to keep doing that - it's good to be able to inspire them."

The 21-year-old's are the sons of former Charlton Athletic, Colchester United and Leyton Orient forward Kevin Lisbie, who scored more than 150 goals during his career.

Kyrell joined Braintree last summer after playing a prominent role in an FA Cup run by Cray Valley Paper Mills, scoring a penalty when they took on Charlton in the first round proper.

Kyreece was playing for Premier League club Brentford's B side before being signed by Colchester in February - and then sent on loan to Braintree earlier this month.

He made a goalscoring debut as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion's academy side in the National League Cup in midweek, while his brother has 11 goals from 33 appearances so far this season.

"I'm buzzing I really am. This shows the hard work we've put in and to play at such a high level with my twin brother is an amazing feeling," said Kyrell.

"We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses and we do feel that connection when we're on the pitch, the runs, the movement, we definitely feel that telepathy on the pitch."

Over the years, there have been many sets of twins in football - including Steven and Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham), Fabio and Rafael da Silva (Man United), Josh and Jacob Murphy (Norwich), Paul and Ron Futcher (Luton and Man City), Dean and David Holdsworth (Watford), Ray and Rod Wallace (Southampton) and Frank and Ronald de Boer (Netherlands).

But has there been any rivalry between the Lisbies over the years?

Kyreece said: "We started from humble beginnings, playing Sunday league together.

"It's never felt like a competition where we played for different teams and were trying to outscore each other.

"We've always been on the same team trying to help each other out. There's never been that rivalry but we push each other every day to make it to the top together."

Braintree won promotion to the top flight of non-league football by beating Worthing in a play-off final.

But they were 20th in the National League table when former boss Angelo Harrop was sacked in November, leading to the appointment of Steve Pitt.

He has overseen a gradual improvement in their fortunes and they are unbeaten in their last four league games and are now 16th, seven points clear of the relegation places.

"We're on a good run of form, and since Steve Pitt took over the team you can see a real sense of enjoyment," said Kyrell.

"It's a crucial end of the season [period] now where there's going to be a lot of six-pointers. The team definitely has the ability to stay in the league and the fans deserve us to be National League for another season."

Kyreece could make his National League debut in Saturday's home game against Boston United and it's a prospect his brother is relishing.

Kyrell added: "Kyreece ideally came to Braintree to play right wing and I'm doing well on the left. Everyone wants to see it and I can't wait to play with Kyreece, get some goals and assists and [help us] fly up the league."