Moroka Swallows boss Rainer Zobel has blamed his side's failure to beat Bloemfontein Celtic on Sunday on the loss of his two main strikers.

The 'Beautiful Birds', who were without the services of Collins Mbesuma and Siyabonga Nomvete for the game at the Dobsonville Stadium, played out to a goalless draw with 'Phunya Sele Sele' after they missed a host of opportunities in front of goal.

"Our two real strikers were not in the match Nomvete and Mbesuma," said Zobel.

The former Al-Ahly mentor substituted hitman David Radebe with fifteen minutes to play in favour of Shaun Haschick, who has been out of action with a groin injury since late last season, but the substitution proved to be an unpopular one with the Swallows faithful.

But the German-born coach has defended his decision.

He continued: "Radebe has not played for a long time and he has lost a little bit of power.

"Normally I would have made another change, but I needed (Lungisani) Ndlela for the corners and I couldn't change Ndlela because Bloemfontein Celtic have four tall guys at the back.

"I'm a little disappointed with Shaun, he was on for fifteen minutes and could have done a little bit more."

Zobel has now set his sights on Swallows' next game against AmaZulu on October 3rd.

"One point is not enough. In our situation we need to win our home matches and we have to do that in our next game against AmaZulu," he concluded.