Mobile frontrunners Aaron Burgess and Dave Dugdale are playing around Blair Scoullar, giving Otago a three-pronged attack which encouraged scoring opportunities against Auckland in the New Zealand Football Championship last weekend.
This was a change from previous seasons, when a lone striker played up front.
Englishman Dugdale (25), who played for Runcorn Town before coming to Dunedin and starring in the Caversham side that won the South Island Championship in winter, has fitted in well with Otago's NZFC squad.
"It's early days, but I think we have the makings of a goal-scoring unit once we get used to each others' runs," Dugdale said.
Last weekend, Dugdale was extremely disappointed to be pulled up for offside, when he raced round the last Auckland defender on halfway and had only the keeper to beat.
"I was in so much space, he [the linesman] presumed that I was off, but I was well onside when the ball was played through.
The defender being beaten by the ball's bounce made the situation look worse.
"At that stage, after us conceding a ninth-minute goal, I am confident we could have drawn level at 1-1, which would have shifted huge pressure on to Auckland."
Otago coach Terry Phelan said there was a good feeling in the squad despite the early loss.
"There is a buzz in the camp just now, and we can't wait to have a go at Canterbury this Sunday at Sunnyvale," Phelan said.
One black cloud on the horizon was Scoullar's knee injury which resulted from a block tackle.
The Central Otago-based former All White is awaiting tests to ascertain the extent of the injury.
Liam Little missed out on the recently announced All Whites trip to Fiji later this month, but a plus for Otago is that the big keeper will not miss any NZFC matches.
