Mary Earps inherits ‘annoying little sister’ in Khiara Keating as Man City star vows not to give Lionesses goalkeeping rival ‘an easy life’

The 19-year-old is relatively new to the Lionesses’ set-up and finds herself competing with more experienced rivals. Keating’s form in the WSL has, however, earned her a chance that she is determined to take – even if that means making life difficult for 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner Earps.

Keating has told The Athletic of working with domestic rival Earps – who is on the books at Manchester United – when linking up with England: “Mary’s lovely. She says I’m like her annoying little sister. (During training), I’ll just put it top bins for the sake of going top bins and she’ll come and jump on me. Next time, she tries to chip me, but I don’t let her live an easy life.”

Keating is competing with the likes of Earps and Chelsea shot-stopper Hannah Hampton for minutes with England and is “dreaming” of making a senior debut at some stage. She did, however, almost miss her first call in October 2023, saying of her interactions with national team boss Sarina Wiegman: “I was outside in the garden playing with my sister, so I missed the call. She was probably thinking, ‘These young ones are always on the phone!’. When I saw the WhatsApp message and missed call, I thought I should probably call her back. I called her and she was very straightforward. She said, ‘You’ve had a great start to the season so I’m going to call you up for your first senior camp’. I just froze and she said, ‘Hello, are you still there?’. I said, ‘Yes’. And then she said, ‘No worries, see you soon’. My mum cried when I told her.”

Keating has helped to push City into WSL title contention this season and will be hoping that her domestic form over the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign allows her to challenge Earps when it comes to earning further recognition from Wiegman.