Bernard Parker has urged his fellow Bafana Bafana strikers to be a tad selfish.

While Parker and company have been praised for their nifty footwork and attacking play, Bafana have been equally criticised for their failure to turn the creative flair into goals.

Yesterday, the striker said coach Shakes Mashaba had asked his strikers to try avoid walking the ball into the net in their do-or-die encounter against Ghana tomorrow night (kickoff at 8pm).

Bafana are bottom of Group C, with one point from two matches, and need to beat the Black Stars and hope Senegal win against Algeria to progress to the quarterfinals.

If both SA and Algeria win, Bafana will be level on points with Senegal and goal difference will determine who finishes as runners-up behind the Desert Foxes.

"We are good, as South African players, in combining well and clicking in the final third. That is our strength. But I don't think we take the initiative," Parker said.

"Maybe we are not aggressive enough. We try play to our strength by trying to combine, and sometimes we do a bit too much in terms of making too many passes and the opposition end up winning back the ball.

"I don't know, maybe we need an aggressive approach this time and to shoot more often. We tend to overdo it in the last third."

Parker, third on Bafana's all-time top scorer's list, came off the bench in their 1-1 draw against Senegal on Friday.

He admitted that Bafana had woken up too late to the reality that they would head home early if they did not take their chances.

"I think we have learnt a lot from what has happened.

"The coach has asked us when are we going to shoot. He's been stressing on that and it is just up to us players to choose our moments."

Mashaba's big concern isn't just the front line after yet another defender, Thulani Hlatshwayo, was substituted on Friday, forcing him out of tomorrow's clash. But Rivaldo Coetzee might be fit in time to provide cover.

The 18-year-old was being assessed yesterday afternoon.