HE might not have started with it in Sunday's CAF Confederation Cup match against Al Ahly, but Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler is loving the potential of a Kermit Erasmus and Thamsanqa Gabuza strike partnership.

HE might not have started with it in Sunday's CAF Confederation Cup match against Al Ahly, but Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler is loving the potential of a Kermit Erasmus and Thamsanqa Gabuza strike partnership.

Tinkler raised eyebrows starting with the temperamental Lehlohonolo Majoro behind big centre-forward Gabuza at Suez Stadium in Egypt. Majoro never seemed to have the capacity to threaten that Erasmus had alongside his fellow top scorer in the CAF event on five goals, Gabuza.

As Bucs, 1-0 up from Gabuza's strike at Orlando Stadium, slid to a 2-0 deficit in Egypt, Erasmus replaced Majoro and scored a beauty within a minute.

Gabuza equalised, then Thabo Matlaba and Thabo Rakhale added a third and fourth either side of another goal for Ahly by Amr Gamal for a 5-3 aggregate victory to Pirates.

Tinkler believes the vision and mercurial creativity of Erasmus can be highly effective when paired with the bustle of Gabuza, even if the pair have only one domestic goal between them so far this season.

"I've said this time and again - Gabuza has so much energy. If you saw the way he scored his goal, the way he celebrated, I think he went all the way to the Suez Canal. We actually lost him for a bit," Tinkler quipped.

"His energy is just phenomenal and he never gives up. He's got that fighting attitude, and I think it rubs off on the rest of the players, including Kermit.

"And Kermit benefits from it. Gabuza's aggression around the central defenders gives Kermit a bit more freedom to express himself and show his qualities."

Erasmus said of his friendship with Gabuza: "We share a room together. We are always together so we've got a good friendship.

"For me it's always good to play with someone who knows his strengths."