Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs striker Katlego Mphela believes he would have ‘easily’ scored 20 goals with the current generation of strikers in the Absa Premiership.

The North West-born striker was the league’s top goalscorer during the 2009-10 season after bagging 17 goals for the Brazilians.

However, over the course of his career, Mphela scored 62 goals and assisted a further 14 from 191 appearances across all competitions playing for Jomo Cosmos, RC Strasbourg Alsace, Stade Reims, SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Royal Eagles FC.

‘I think it’s different [from my time as a player]. You know strikers are judged by the number of goals they score. I don’t think the [PSL] strikers are doing OK,’ Mphela told Energy FM.

‘You can do as much hard work as you want but if you are not scoring goals, then it’s difficult.

‘So, I think the guys need to go back to the drawing board and start working hard. To score goals, you need to do extra training – you can’t wait for the coach or wait for the match to come; you need to dig deeper.’

Orlando Pirates striker Gabadinho Mhango is currently leading the goalscoring charts with 14 goals, followed by Peter Shalulile of Highlands Park with 12 and Chiefs’ Samir Nurkovic with 11, respectively.

When asked how many goals he would have scored if he was playing with the current crop of players, Mphela replied: ‘By now? It depends on many factors – it depends on the team you play for and the players you have around you but [goalscoring] chances are there … I’d easily [have] scored 20 goals because of my ability and my belief in working hard. I always did extra training so that when I get to the match it becomes easier.’