Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane believes in-form striker Ashely Du Preez will be one of the best players in the country.
After a shaky start to life at Naturena, Du Preez appears to have rediscovered the form that made him one of the most sought-after players in the Premiership last season at Stellenbosch.
The 25-year-old has directly contributed to five of Chiefs' goals through two goals and three assists in the last three matches and is now the club's joint-top goal scorer alongside Caleb Bimenyimana.
Zwane believes the striker has what it takes to be one of the best in the country.
"He's improved according to me and he is a different player compared to when he was playing for Stellenbosch," Zwane told journalists on Thursday.
"Why am I saying that? This season whenever he was available he played nearly all the games 90 minutes, and at Stellenbosch he played 27 games plus and he was substituted off in nearly 95 percent of the games.
"Obviously, they were managing him and we also have our way of managing him because we know how important it is to have him on the field."
READ | Zwane reveals secret to red-hot Du Preez's goalscoring form
Zwane has also previously acknowledged that several of the club's signings this season had struggled to adjust to the pressure and spotlight that comes with the Amakhosi badge.
"He [Du Preez] was playing [At Stellenbosch] whenever he scored a goal maybe not too many people were making noise about him scoring a goal, but here at Kaizer Chiefs, whenever he scores people will praise him and he's expected to score more goals and that obviously goes to his head," Zwane added.
"Not in a negative way but as a form of pressure, that in the sense that: 'eish, I need to score again,' and in that alone, he needs us to help him when it comes to that and his teammates have to play a huge role because they are the ones on the field.
"I think he's done well so far, and he will keep doing well because he's a level-headed boy. He's focused, he's disciplined and I see him prospering and becoming one of the best players in the team and for the country."
Zwane will hope to have Du Preez at his very best when Chiefs take on Royal AM in the quarter-final of the Nedbank Cup on Sunday.
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