Orlando Pirates striker Mabasa's stats are highly impressive, now can he keep it up?

There's always been a feeling that under the frustration of regular injury interruptions, Tshegofatso Mabasa has the potential to become quite some striker for Orlando Pirates.

And at only 24-years-old, his best years are still ahead and he’s learning and developing all the time.

Big and bustling, Mabasa has made it a habit of coming off the bench to change matches, although on Sunday night he was in the starting XI for a change in the Buccaneers' 3-0 Confederation Cup win over Al Ahli Benghazi at the Orlando Stadium.

Once more he was in the thick of the action and on the score-sheet - via a header in the 41st minute which glanced off a defender and into the net.

It was also from a Mabasa shot, and resultant rebound, that Kabelo Dlamini slotted home Bucs' third goal of the night.

The measure of any good striker is ultimately his minutes per goal ratio. And if you look at Mabasa's numbers in that category this season, it makes for highly impressive reading - he's currently scoring at a rate of 66 minutes per goal.

Or at 58 minutes per goal in the domestic league and 75 minutes per goal in the Confederation Cup, to be more specific.

The problem is - when one elaborates further - is that he's only played 12 matches this season, for a total of 264 minutes and four goals. The reason of course Mabasa has not played more is down to injury.

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It's not only this season, however, that his numbers have been good, at least in relation to the amount he has been on the field.

Last season, his first at Pirates, Mabasa scored seven league goals in 829 minutes (118 minutes per goal). In the previous campaign, with Celtic, he got nine goals in 1472 minutes (164 minutes per goal).

Overall, his league record from the last three seasons, including the current one, is 18 goals in 2416 minutes of playing time - an average of a goal scored every 134 minutes, which is excellent.

If Pirates can just find a way to keep Mabasa fit for longer periods, they could have quite a striker on their hands.