By Fred Kaweesi

In the aftermath of Cranes’ 6-1 drubbing of Hippos on Sunday, Bobby Williamson was forced to appreciate the embarrassment of riches in terms of players at his disposal for next weekend’s Nations Cup qualifier.

The Scot fielded a significantly changed Cranes team punctuated with the likes of Hamza Muwonge, Edward Ssali, Denis Guma, Musa Mude, Chrizestom Ntambi but still managed to win by a canter.

Williamson chose to play Ntambi instead of Mike Sserumagga behind striker Geoffrey Massa later in the second half and the Vietnam-based midfielder excelled.

And now there lies the big question.

Will Williamson be tempted to continue trying out Ntambi with hope of fielding him in that problematic creative position behind the strikers or ignore him and stick with Sserumagga, who has served him over the years but was poor in the 1-0 first leg defeat to Zambia in Ndola?

On the evidence of Ntambi’s performance in the friendly and subsequent sessions, there has been enough to suggest he could be a decent addition to the team.

Of course, It’s easy to get carried away about a player you see having two or three cracking games in training because competitive football is often a different story.

But when a player works the channels like Sserumaga has done in training, making it hard for defenders to pick him up, it’s extremely hard to ignore.

That’s what he has done in a few of his previous training games, creating chances and scoring a few of his own. His goal against the Hippos was spectacular.

The issue that Williamson must deal with now is how to fit the youngster into his side.

“It’s true I have very tough decisions to make. There are plenty of options to consider and competition for places which should be good for the team,” Williamson pointed after considering Ntambi’s contributions and Mudde’s return to full fitness.

Ntambi v Sserumagga v Ochan

Sserumagga brings others into play and will prove by far the strongest of the lot. He is an exceptional talent and has one of the best left foots in the country.

Besides being comfortable on the ball, Sserumagga always had that acute eye for the right pass, a devastating delivery and fierce shot.

However, his goals-to-chances ratio has just not been good enough in the support role.

Patrick Ochan has been looked at as his deputy but although his size and stature can be a real handful for the opposition, he is solely tailor-made for an attacking role and not as a support striker.