Pitso won't turn to Benni

The coach still regards Katlego Mphela as the ideal striker. In Mosimane's eyes, Mphela has no competition from the others. He has scored 22 goals in 44 appearances for the national team.

Mosimane said he had given all the local strikers a chance to prove that they can solve Bafana's goalscoring problems. In the most recent matches - friendlies against Equatorial Guinea, Zambia and Ghana this month - Bafana's strike force produced only two goals.

In the Absa Premiership this season, Mphela has netted nine times halfway through the campaign, followed by Nomvethe with eight goals.

Diyo Sibisi of Maritzburg United and the Bidvest Wits duo of Ryan Chapman and S'busiso Vilakazi are all on six goals, though Vilakazi is more of an attacking midfielder than a striker.

McCarthy's league tally is just three goals in a season blighted by injury, but he has been on target three times in the Telkom Knockout.

"We have a long way to go. The players we select also need to buy into my vision. We don't just pick players because people want to see them in the team," Mosimane said.