Of the three goalies Pirates have been using, it is Jackson Mabokgwane who is likely to get the nod

● Games played: 28, goals conceded: 24, and clean sheets kept: nine.

These goalkeeping figurers look terrible, but the glove man responsible may be given the benefit of the doubt if it was just him and him alone responsible for this.

But no, here we are talking about the stats of three experienced goalkeepers who have been responsible for guarding Orlando Pirates’ goals this season.

That there’s been no clear No 1 tells of the Bucs technical team led by Milutin Sredojevic not being convinced by either of Siyabonga Mpontshane (32), Jackson Mabokgwane (31) and Wayne Sandilands (35).

The comical errors of this season began right in the first league game of the season for Bucs when they hosted Highlands Park.

Sandilands was in goals for his first and last match this season.

The veteran goalkeeper’s howler involved defender Gladwin Shitolo, who made a harmless back pass only for the former Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper to let the ball slip between his legs while trying to clear it first time.

Shitolo had his fair share of the blame for a back pass that went straight between the poles, but Sandilands is the one who suffered the most as he never saw himself in Bucs starting XI after that. One game, one goal conceded, read his stats.

Come Mpontshane, who at one stage this season looked to have cemented his position with 14 starts in the league and five in domestic cup games.

Lanky enough to command his area and intimidate any opposition striker in front of him, Mpontshane has failed to stamp his authority in Bucs’ goals.

To his credit, though, Mpontshane managed at least four clean sheets in league games but the 13 goals he conceded and some terrible blunders he committed in the Telkom Knockout final defeat against Baroka FC have not helped his cause.

Mabokgwane was preferred in three of the 18 league games played by Bucs so far. In those three games Mabokgwane let in one goal in each.

Check who’s in the post?

In total, though, Mabokgwane has had a slightly better run than Mpontshane, having been beaten fives times in 10 games and producing five clean sheets along the way.

So it is not surprising that, of late, Sredojevic has employed Mabokgwane, especially in the four Caf Champions League matches where Bucs were yet to concede a goal before their Group B encounter against reigning champions Esperance of Tunisia, who they hosted at Orlando Stadium last night.

With no No 1 in sight, it remains s to be seen who Sredojevic will deploy in goals when Bucs visit Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.

In the past three Soweto derbies — two in the league and one in the Telkom Knockout semifinal — in which Pirates emerged as winners, Mpontshane got the bulk of the minutes as he played in the two league matches.

With all his faults, including that of conceding what looked like an easy equaliser by Mwape Musonda when Black Leopards knocked Pirates out of the Nedbank Cup last weekend, Mabokgwane looks in pole position to get the nod for the Chiefs game, although no one can say that with conviction.

What has also not helped Sredojevic is the fact that the fourth goalkeeper, Brilliant Khuzwayo, bought by the club at the beginning of this season, has not yet fully recovered from an ankle injury he suffered a week before the start of the campaign.

That the former Chiefs keeper was seen by others as a shoo-in for the No 1 slot at Pirates when he was signed, speaks volumes about the trust that everyone has for Mabokgwane and company.

As much as the Soweto Derby has always been about the infield players and what they can do to influence the result, Saturday’s will mainly be about who keeps the goals for both clubs.

Pity that the talk will not be about the ability of those in goals, but rather their vulnerability and incapability to be in control and convincing in big games.