Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba was let down by a poor first half performance during the 1-1 draw against Ghana in Durban on Tuesday.

South Africa conceded their third penalty in just two games as debutant Isaac Nhlapo lunged in carelessly to see Ghana take the lead in the first half in which the team struggled to find consistency in the wind.

Speaking after the match, Mashaba pulled no punches in analysing his side’s first 45 minutes.

‘Well, if we were to talk about the performance, the first half was very poor,’ said Mashaba.

‘We didn’t play the way [we would have liked], but what can we do? We had to give certain players a chance to show us what they can do.’

Mashaba saw improvement in the second half after making a number of changes but still admits there is a lot of room for his side to grow.

‘In the second half you saw, when we brought some players on, a big change happened. But there are still a few areas we need to work on, especially when we lose the ball.

‘Regaining possession is a problem to us. We sort of ball watching and we’re late for tackles all the time.’

Bafana Bafana face Senegal on November 7 in their next World Cup 2018 qualifier.