The combination of Kwame Peprah and Kabelo Dlamini up front for Orlando Pirates in recent weeks is seemingly failing to inspire.
Both players were also taken off the last time they started together, two games back against Sekhukhune United, as well as three games ago – versus Al Ittihad.
In short, there has not been much to suggest there is a chemistry between the pair.
backpagepixIndividually neither man seems to be on top of their games right now either. After a fruitful spell just before Christmas, Peprah has netted just twice in 16 outings and is currently on a goal drought of eight games.
Perhaps it’s time to give someone like Zakhele Lepasa a chance. Yes he’s coming back from injury, but could perhaps play the first 60 to 70 minutes. His guile and pace would offer something different.
There are of course also options such as Tshegofatso Mabasa and Gabadinho Mhango, who should probably be Bucs’ first-choice strike partnership, but who for varying reasons, barely get any game-time.
Dlamini has managed three goals in his last 10 appearances, but the 25-year-old still lacks consistency in his game and is probably better suited playing as a traditional winger.
If the Pirates coaches are thinking about getting a bit more adventurous at home for the second leg against Simba, perhaps it’s time to unleash Thembinkosi Lorch. He remained on the bench on Sunday.
Lorch is another who’s output has been well below expected, but remains a player who can be a game-changer and a match-winner.
At this crunch juncture of the season, the timing could just be right for former Bafana Bafana star Lorch to spearhead Bucs’ run in the knockout stages of the Confederation Cup.
Sunday’s match against Simba was a tight one and decided only by a controversial penalty. One gets the feeling though that the game had been there for the taking if Pirates had been a little more adventurous; hopefully they’ll go with a more incisively attitude for the return game in a week’s time in Soweto.