Mamelodi Sundowns left back Divine Lunga has revealed his coach’s instruction motivated him and bettered his performance against Swallows FC this past Sunday evening.

Goals from Pavol Safranko, Neo Maema and Peter Shalulile had Sundowns walking away 3-0 winners over the Dube Birds at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

The Brazilians have now made it five wins in six games and stretched their lead at the summit of the DStv Premiership standings to four points over SuperSport United in second place.

Lunga, who was named man of the match, admits he didn’t have the best of starts to the first half but, following the coach’s advice, he grew into the game to help his side claim all three points.

“I think today the first 20 minutes I wasn’t confident,” Lunga told SuperSport TV after the game.

“When the coach told me, ‘Divine, push yourself’, then I started to play better. Then, second half, I think I played well.

“I’m always working at training. Coach Rhulani and Manqoba telling me that when I control the ball I have to look forward first. So that we can create more chances.

“Every game is a must-win game. We don’t care about the wins behind us. In every game we play we treat it like our first game of the season. We always want to collect maximum points and stretch the gap.”

Mamelodi Sundowns will be hoping to continue their winning momentum when they take on AS Maniema Union in the Caf Champions League second preliminary round first leg on 17 October.