Arthur Zwane raises difference in Ashley Du Preez at Kaizer Chiefs

In the last five matches, Du Preez has directly contributed to six goals – scoring three and assisting a further three – in all competitions, after several months of inconsistency in his performances following his move from Stellenbosch FC.

Now playing mainly as a second striker, and interchangeably leading the attacking line, the Bafana Bafana forward is finding his rhythm.

"You know, Ash, as an individual, comes from a team that was playing mostly in transition, and with us, obviously, it's not only transition, we want to build up from the back, we want to have combinations in the middle of the park, we want to unlock the opposition's deep block," explained Zwane.

"So, we're trying to help him to be able to deal with different situations, and you must have seen him [improving] now – actually, since the beginning of the season, Ash has contributed to a lot of goals that we've scored, and he's also scored.

"Unfortunately, injuries did not help him or the club, we've lost him when we needed him most in some of the games that were very, very important for us to have him on the field, and that also destabilised the team a little bit because we had to change the dimension.

"So, I think he has played a huge role and he's improved, according to me, and he's a different player compared to when he was playing for Stellenbosch.

"Why am I saying that? This season, whenever he was available, he played 90 minutes in nearly all the games, and at Stellenbosch he played 27-plus games and was substituted in nearly 95 percent of the games he played for them.

"So, obviously, they were managing him and we also have our own way of managing him because we know how important it is to have him on the field."