Despite being a surprise inclusion in Bafana Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations squad for the tournament in Morocco (December 21 - January 18), Queens Park Rangers' Tylon Smith is confident he can do more than make up the numbers.
Smith has yet to feature in a senior league or international game. The centre-back's only senior appearance at any level came in QPR's 3-2 Carabao Cup loss to Plymouth Argyle in August.
The 20-year-old had yet to break into the first team for Stellenbosch FC when he earned his move to London, off the back of a superb U20 Africa Cup of Nations showing, where he was Player of the Tournament for champions.
Smith will be one of the youngsters at AFCON rather than one of the leaders of the team, but insists he will bring the same personality.
"I think I will be the same me. I'll do what I always did -- stay consistent, stick to my own rules -- nothing will change. I will stay consistent and just work harder," Smith told ESPN.
Whatever challenge Smith faces now is likely to pale in comparison to the 30-minute run he had to take on his way to and from training when he first made it into Stellenbosch FC's academy structures. The son of a single mother in Jamestown, he lacked access to transport, but his own two feet carried him through the ranks.
"When I was playing in the [Stellenbosch] academy, sometimes, there wasn't transport for me - so I had to jog to the fields. It was [roughly] 30 minutes away from where I stayed," Smith recalled.
"Because I had a single mom, it was a bit difficult. I wasn't earning a lot of money at U21 [level], but I was working to give all the money to her. It was difficult, but that's why I'm proud of it today."
Smith played for Stellenbosch at every level from the U14 team to the reserves and is arguably the highest-rated of many superb players to come out of Stellenbosch FC's academy.
At the age of 17, shortly before his 18th birthday, he caught the eyes of esteemed agency Centre Circle at the Bayhill Tournament.
"Tylon was first spotted by our South African staff members at the Bayhill [Premier Cup] in 2023. They really thought that Tylon had the qualities to play abroad," Centre Circle's Matthew Moore told ESPN.
"We had seen the success of our client, [Philadelphia Union centre-back] Olwethu Makhanya, at Stellenbosch so knew keeping Tylon at Stellenbosch initially would be the best place for him to continue developing.
"After a strong AFCON [U20] tournament, we put Tylon's profile out to many clubs in Europe.
"We knew we had to capitalise on Tylon's great performance, just like my father [Rob Moore] did when he moved Benni McCarthy to Europe after he won U20 AFCON player of the Tournament in 1997.
"QPR made a strong push to sign him and we were impressed with their pitch. It's Tylon's dream to play in England so he wanted to take the opportunity."
Stellenbosch head coach Steve Barker has often expressed a tinge of sadness that Smith left without playing a first-team game for the club after signing his first professional contract in October 2024.
"It was a bittersweet moment for us when he left. We were and are still happy for him; at the same time, we wish he had a season or two with the first team. However, we were not going to deny him that opportunity; he deserved the move," Barker was quoted as saying by SuperSport last month.
Despite not playing for Barker's first team before his move to QPR, Smith insisted the head coach who guided Stellenbosch to the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals last season in their first ever continental competition had a significant influence on him.
He has also struck up a positive relationship with QPR head coach Julien Stéphan.
"[My time at QPR] has made me a better player. The coach likes me because of my hard work [and] my consistency. I'm very top on my consistency - staying consistent," Smith said.
"The coach likes me a lot because I'm working hard every single day in training. He motivates me to keep on pushing and I know I will get my chance - I think after this AFCON. This is massive for me, as a 20-year-old, getting an international call-up. I might get regular game time after I come back from AFCON at QPR.
"Julien likes players that keep possession, so I'm good with that and I'm a ball-playing centre-back. In defending, I'm top [at] defending space in behind and 1v1 challenges and I think that's what he likes of me."
Smith and new Chicago Fire FC signing Mbekezeli Mbokazi are widely viewed as key to Bafana's future at centre-back. Both are ball-playing centre-backs and Smith expects that in years to come, they will share responsibility for both ground duels and aerial balls, rather than delegating responsibility for specific aspects of the job between the two of them.
He said: "It will be a combination of both of us doing both (dealing with ground balls and aerial balls). We have the same skills. He can defend; he can play ball - play long balls. I can do the same. I think it will be top for both of us if we can play together."
Although not the bulkiest of centre-backs, Smith has been battle-tested and views the 1-0 U20 AFCON quarter-final win over DR Congo in extra time as particularly central to his development. Describing it as the toughest game he ever played in, Smith said it helped him "to be aggressive and physical" and believes this experience will serve him at first team level.
An AFCON at senior level at the age of 20 is likely to have a major impact on his development, too, and Smith is crystal clear about his hopes for life 10 years from now.
He said of his goal: "That I'll be playing in the Premier League and to be a starting defender for the national team."