Arsenal ace Nicolas Pepe to battle with Aubameyang to take free-kicks this season after two goal heroics against Vitoria

NICOLAS PEPE insists he is still way short being at his best while also claiming he will speak with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang over who takes free-kicks this season.

The 72million winger came off the subs bench to score with two screaming free-kicks to help Arsenal overcome Vitoria Guimaraes in the Europa League.

Now the clubs record signing is ready for a long discussion with close pal Aubameyang over who will be on set-piece duties in future.

Prior to last nights game, Pepe had scored just one goal for Arsenal when Aubameyang generously allowed him to take a penalty against Aston Villa last month.

He said: Scoring twice is great for my confidence but Auba has also scored a free-kick this season so now we will talk to decide who will take them when we are both playing.

He let me take that penalty and as soon as I arrived at Arsenal he helped me to settle in along with Alex Lacazette and Matteo Guendouzi.

Myself, Auba and Laca have played very little together so far, maybe around just 30 minutes.

But now Laca is back from injury and I hope we will play more together because we get on very well.

We are all French so we understand each other but its important for me to learn English so I can begin to communicate with everyone.

I knew that coming to England would be harder for me than to be playing in the French League because the intensity of the football is totally different here.

I am not yet at my best physically because I was at the African Cup of Nations in the summer and didnt have a proper pre-season like the other players.

I am working hard to be physically stronger and I have had to adapt quickly because the expectations were so high when I signed for Arsenal.

Unfortunately its not what I did at the beginning but I have always had the trust of the manager and all the players have supported me.

The key to adapting is having good people around you and I am fortunate to have my family here with me.

It was always going to be difficult for me to come here into the unknown with a different language, so I rely a lot on my family.

They have been very good for me mentally, especially when things were not going so well.

Scoring these two goals will be good for me and for the team, but the most important thing is that we had a win to show for our efforts at the end.

It shows our character and our mental strength that we were able to come from behind and win the game like we did against Aston Villa last month.

Now we can focus on Sundays game with Crystal Palace with a clear mind.