Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has praised the form of young striker Zakhele Lepasa, but also admitted that there is still room for improvement.

The 23-year-old was given an opportunity to play due to the absence of the injured of Gabadinho Mhango, Terrence Dzvukamanja and Tshegofatso Mabasa.

Lepasas has managed to grab the opportunity with both hands as he scored in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final win over Kaizer Chiefs and also converted a pressure penalty last weekend in Bucs’ 2-1 league win over SuperSport United.

While Lepasa’s form has exited Zinnbauer, the German coach has admitted that he still has to improve areas of his game.

“I had to wake him up, he was not always ready for what we want,” said Zinnbauer.

“But we know his quality, he works very well with the ball and without the ball. Even the penalty situation, he is the one who was fouled. It was a good combination with Nkanyiso Zungu.

“He is hot, he wants always to score and he is a player who always wants to win games. He does all of that and we are happy about this (his performance),” Zinnbauer continued. “But we need a little time for improvement from what we want in the game, but at the moment we are happy about this.”

Lepasa will face a fight to keep hold of his place with Mabasa having recovered from injury and scored an 87th-minute winner on his return to play against SuperSport United, while Mhango is also expected back very soon and new man DR Congo striker Jean-Marc Makusu also expected to be in contention soon.