Gaetan Bong is not worried about marking Mo Salah on his first Premier League start for Albion for two months.

The left-back returns in place of the injured Bernardo against leaders Liverpool at the Amex.

Bong will be up against Egyptian ace Salah, who has added 16 goals this season to the 44 he scored last season after signing from Roma.

Salah, on target in each of Liverpool’s last two wins against Albion, collected the African Player of the Year award in Senegal earlier this week.

Cameroon captain Bong told The Argus: “I would love to congratulate him because I am an African player and I know what it means for us and he had a great season.

“He is doing so well since he came back to the UK (after Chelsea), he is another player and we know what he can do.

“If I have to mark him, I will mark him like I always do. I will just play my football and I will find a way to disturb him as much as I can so he is not at his best.

“This is first of all my job as a defender. And after that I have to play as well. I have to try to help the team go forward and give the team the best I can.

“I don’t know who I’m playing against right now and to be fair, I am never worried about who I am playing against, I am just focused on what I need to do.”

Bong shook hands recently with Neymar when captaining his country against Brazil in a friendly and has World Cup experience with Cameroon.

He said: “I know how it is when you play against good players. I have played against big players, good players. And that’s why I am saying I am not thinking about who we are playing against because they are going to do anyway what they have to do.

“The most important thing is I have to do my job. And as a defender, the first thing is to defend well. When you have a top player against you, you have to find a way for him not to be at his best level because if he is not at his best level, he will not hurt you like he could.

“This is the first job as a defender. But after that I have to play as well. I like to go forward, to enjoy my football, but it depends how the game is going.”