Kaizer Chiefs coach delighted about his rejuvenated star

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has explained Ashley Du Preez’s renaissance for Amakhosi in recent weeks.

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Kaizer Chiefs striker looks like a new man

At one point, Ashley Du Preez’s critics had a go at him for pretty much all of his performances. He was guilty of spurning some gilt-edged chances, but never lacked the desire to work hard and keep plugging away. Now, that hard work seems to be paying off.

The former Stellies striker fell down the the pecking order at Naturena. He also ost his place in the Bafana Bafana team. However, the 25-year-old looks to be approaching his best again and is back among the goals. He’s even becoming a fan favourite.

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Arthur Zwane chats Du Preez

“Ashley, as an individual, he comes from a team [Stellenbosch] that was playing mostly in transition and with us, it’s not only transition,” said Zwane.

“We want to build up from the back and want combinations in the middle of the park and to unlock the oppositions when they form a deep block.

“We are trying to help him [Du Preez] to be able to deal with different situations, and from the beginning of the season, he has contributed to a lot of goals that we have scored and also scored.

“He’s also been a difficult player to deal with whenever he is available and fit. And unfortunately, injuries did not help him and the club well. We’ve lost him when we needed him most in some of the games that were very important for us to have him on the field.

“And that also destabilised the team a bit because now we have to change the dimension in our attacking third,” added the Amakhosi coach.

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Du Preez’s stats for the Glamour Boys at Chiefs

Ashley Du Preez has eight goals and five assists in 25 matches across all competitions this term. If he were to hit double figures for his debut season with Chiefs, that would be a solid result.

“Ashley has played a very huge role, and he has improved according to me, and he is a different player compared to when he was playing for Stellenbosch,” declared Zwane.

“Why I’m saying that? This season, whenever available, he played nearly all the games for 90 minutes and at Stellenbosch, he played 27 games plus, and he was substituted in nearly 95% of the games that he played for them.

“We’re trying by all means to help not only Ash [Du Preez] but everyone to settle in.

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Zwane confident Du Preez will star for Chiefs

“Remember he was playing [at Stellies], and whenever he’d score a goal, maybe not too many people were making noise about him scoring a goal but here at Kaizer Chiefs, whenever he scores a goal, people will give him praise, and he’s expected to score more goals

“That obviously goes to his head not in a negative way but as a form of pressure that he needs to score again. He’s done well so far, and he’ll keep doing well because he is a level-headed boy. He is focused and disciplined.

“I see him prospering and becoming one of the best players you know in the team and for the country in the future.”

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Du Preez will hope to add to his tally when Chiefs tackle Royal AM in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals on Sunday. Kickoff is at 6pm.

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