AmaZulu's fringe goalkeeper Jean-Noël Amonome, who's recently established himself as his country Gabon's first-choice, has conceded it will be hard for him to become Usuthu's No.1 any time soon as Bafana Bafana second-choice Veli Mothwa has made the jersey his own.

"I don't know yet [when I'll play regularly]. I have no idea at the moment whether I will ever be No.1. But time will tell because with AmaZulu nothing is easy. Veli is a very good person, I have a very good relationship with him. He helps me a lot, I learn with him and we have a good competition,'' Amonome told Sowetan this week.

Since joining AmaZulu from his native Gabonese side FC 105 Libreville in January 2020, Amonome has only played one official game, the 1-all dead rubber draw away to Guinean side Horoya in the CAF Champions League group phase early this month.

The 24-year-old talented keeper spent the better part of last season on loan at Uthongathi in the second-tier. Despite lack of game time at Usuthu, Amonome is a big deal in Gabon, having impressed at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), hosted by Cameroon early this year, where he started all his nation's four games until they were knocked out in the last 16 by Burkina Faso on penalties.

Amonome has reflected on how he managed to knuckle down at  Afcon even without any club level minutes under his belt prior to linking-up with Gabon.

The Usuthu keeper also shared how it is like to have Barcelona superstar Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Gabonese national side. 

"Aubameyang is a brilliant person who is very open with everyone in the selection and it's really fantastic to be part of the same selection as him and to play international matches with him. I have a very good relationship with him, he motivates me every time I'm in goal.

"For the Afcon, I made sure I prepared myself mentally. I was doing personal work to keep in shape, the confidence of the coach and all my teammates helped me a lot as well. That's why I did fairly well there at Afcon.''