Bafana must break the duck

The biggest concern for Bafana Bafana heading into Saturday's do-or-die clash against Cameroon is their inability to convert scoring chances.

Tokelo Rantie and Thamsanqa Gabuza are the strikers coach Shakes Mashaba has relied on up front, but both strikers can be wasteful. To make matters worse, both go into the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Indomitable Lions with little game time under their belts.

Rantie, an outcast at English Premier League club Bournemouth, only recently returned from injury he sustained in January, while Gabuza has struggled to get into the Orlando Pirates starting line-up ahead of Tendai Ndoro.

The in-form man going into the clash against Cameroon is Ajax Cape Town's Prince Nxumalo.

He is not likely to get the nod to start ahead of Rantie and Gabuza, but the 25-year-old striker certainly needs a chance to prove himself after missing out on the friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras last year due to an epileptic attack.

Nxumalo is good both in the air and on the ground and would be the kind of impact player Bafana needs to get a victory away from home against the west Africans, who top Group M with a 100% record.

"I want to play and I would be happy to get a chance. I could not get a chance the last time, so I am happy that I got called up again. The guys in the team are happy that I am here," Nxumalo said.

"If I get a chance, then I will do my best to score. But there are other strikers in the team who can score. Even if the other guys are not playing [at club level], they are showing in the training that they can play."

Nxumalo says he and Bafana team doctor Thulani Ngwenya have already spoken and he's confident he'll be in good hands should anything happen while the team is away.

Bafana depart for Limbe this morning looking for a first win in three matches. Defeat would mean they stand no chance of going to the Afcon finals in Gabon next year.