Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has praised right back Khuliso Mudau’s solid defensive and attacking performance during their victory over TS Galaxy on Wednesday evening.

The 26-year-old got his name on the scoresheet with a powerful long-range effort to help his side secure a comfortable 3-0 win over the Rockets at the Mbombela Stadium in their last DStv Premiership match.

The win stretched Sundowns’ lead at the summit of the DStv Premiership table to 18 points as they currently sit on 51 from 22 matches played so far this season.

Mngqithi was pleased with Mudau’s strong performance in front of Masandawana’s backline after he managed to score his first league goal in the first half to give his team a lead in the tough battle against Galaxy.

“I think Mudau has done very well from the beginning of the season up until now, he’s been one of our standout performers and that’s why he has made life very difficult even for Thapelo [Morena] in that space,” Mngqithi told his club’s official website.

“We still believe as Sundowns coaches that he’s still got a little bit more to give, the potential of that boy is bigger than what everyone else thinks, defensively he’s very solid, offensively he’s got a lot of good qualities, he can even play as a central midfielder, which I think is what helps him to be able to solve some tactical or technical issues that are demanded in the game.

“I think he’s one of the few very modern full backs that can invert playing in a central and wide position comfortably, take on opponents one on one and those are very good attributes. Defensively he’s very powerful and very quick as well, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the national team coach sees him. I’m very confident that he will get into the national team very soon.”