Orlando Pirates striker Ndumiso Mabena has expressed his delight having scored his first goal for the club in the 1-all draw against Bloemfontein Celtic at the weekend. The 22-year old has also put his hand up and taken responsibility to solve the goal scoring spell the club is currently experiencing.

Mabena, who had only made seven appearances off the bench this season since his debut in September last year, believes he has a strong case to play a more meaningful role in the upcoming cup competitions, starting with Celtic in the Telkom Knockout on Saturday. This coupled with the fact that Krol will be minus Thulasizwe Mbuyane who – along with five other Buccaneers, have been selected for the Bafana Bafana camp in Brazil.

“I am very happy that I have finally scored my first goal for the club,” Mabena told Orlandopiratesfc.com. “Of course, the challenge for places in the starting line-up will always be there but the opportunities to play will always favour the one who produces the results in the field.”

He added: “As a striker, I know that my mandate is to score goals...my confidence is very high at the moment having scored on Saturday and I hope to repeat the same feat against Celtic...provided I get an opportunity to do so.”

Mabena, who was the overall top goal scorer in the National First Division last season while playing for Limpopo-based outfit Winners Park echoed the same sentiments made by the coach (Rudolf Krol), saying that “the goal scoring has been a major problem this season”, but vowed to make a significant contribution to change that around.

“Goal scoring has been a major problem for us this season that is a fact...but as a striker I believe we need to put our hands up and take responsibility and aim to improve the current situation.

“We have a number of strikers in the team who are capable to do the job and I am just one of those.

“On a personal level, I am happy things are starting to shape up for me because I have been working very hard to improve my game. My immediate goal is to play more consistently and make a positive impact in the team.

Mabena was recently nominated JET Rookie of the Month for February.