AYR UNITED defender and Zambia star Frankie Musonda says he’s enjoying the best spell of his career at Somerset Park after qualifying for AFCON for a second time and helping the Honest Men progress to the Scottish Cup fourth round.

Former Raith Rovers man Musonda made a late cameo in United’s 2-0 win over Morton in the Scottish Cup third round on Saturday and that capped off a successful month for the Zambia player, having sealed qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco under ex-Chelsea and West Ham boss Avram Grant during the recent international break.

Musonda hopes the good times can keep on rolling heading into such a big year for club and country.

“It’s really important for us to progress in the Scottish Cup,” he said. “We want to stay in as many competitions as possible for as long as possible.

“Morton are a difficult side, it’s not the easiest draw that Ayr could’ve got. But it was another professional performance from the boys which was really pleasing.

(Image: Gary Bradley) “I think we showed the resilience you need to do well against teams in the Championship. I think we showed at times that if we were a little bit off it then we can keep ourselves defensively sound.

“That gave us a good platform to kick on into the second half which we ended up doing and we look forward to the next round.”

Second half goals from Mikey Devlin and Jamie Murphy helped Ayr defeat Ton in the third match-up between the two sides so far this season.

It’s been a hectic month for former Luton Town defender Musonda, who’s on a high off the back of results against Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone on international duty before coming back to face Dunfermline and Morton for Ayr.

And he offered a fascinating insight into what it takes to play for the Chipolopolo.

“It’s been a brilliant time recently,” he added.

“That was another amazing moment, qualifying for AFCON with Zambia again.

(Image: Instagram) “At the same time - it’s good that the lads here are still winning games. It’s a squad game and we’ll need everyone to play their part this season. We’re in a good place and there’s still a lot to do ahead of getting back to the league.

“I just feel really privileged to be a part of the Zambia team really. It’ll not really sink in just what we’ve achieved until I probably stop playing.

“It is quite taxing on the body just getting there - but I’m used to it now.

“It’s three flights that equate to over a day’s travel. I fly to Dubai which is about seven and a half hours, then from there it’s a flight to Johannesburg in South Africa which is another eight or so on top of that.

“From there its another hour and a half from there to Zambia. It’s a lot, but I’ve got no complaints.

“It’s more than worth it to pull on the shirt. I’d say it’s been the best time of my career so far.

“I always feel very fortunate to get called up so I’ll never take any amount of minutes I get for granted.

“As much as it’s taxing, you’re blessed with an opportunity to play the game you love. It doesn’t take much for me to try and play.

(Image: Instagram) “When you’re away on internationals the load of training is a bit lighter. But the club are really good with me too.

“They want to know what I think I need in preparation for the next game.

“They look after me really well here, so it’s a fine balance. But you’re never going to turn down the chance to play a game of football.”

Musonda understands just how privileged a position he’s in to represent his nation and be within the top one per cent of footballers to do so.

But he also appreciates how lucky he is to be working under a multi-time Scottish Premiership winner as well as an English Premier League winner at the one time.

It’s an experience he says inspires him to push on to a new level.

He continued: “I’ve been very fortunate to work with some great managers in my career.

“The calibre of managers that I’m working with at the minute is actually second to none.

“I’m learning a lot here at Ayr under the gaffer [Scott Brown] - he’s a very good manager who’s really professional.

“Then with Zambia, working with Avram Grant, he’s got bags of experience and stories about things you wouldn’t believe.

“It’s a really professional environment that I’m working just now which is brilliant.

“That only inspires me to kick on and to try and improve to meet the standards that they’ve worked to and expect from their players.”