Cape Town - Highlands Park coach Owen da Gama believes Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau continues to elevate his game to increasing levels of excellence.

Da Gama was the first Bafana coach to call up Tau for the national team ahead of the games against Guinea-Bissau and Angola in March 2017.

He re-paid the coach's faith by scoring and has since managed nine strikes in 18 appearances for the national team, including a brace against Libya in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations Group E victory.

Speaking to TimesLIVE website, he said: "I have been amazed at how Percy has grown as a player, he continues to develop at a rapid rate and just gets better and better.

"His time in Belgium has done wonders for him in terms of confidence and making him believe that he can take his game to another level.

"I must add that (current Bafana coach) Stuart Baxter has done a fantastic job in using Tau in the correct way, he gives him a free role to go out wide both sides and also come in as a central striker at times.

"Baxter has managed to get the best out of him at national team level, that is for sure."

The 57-year-old added that Tau's progression as a player was a perfect example of a fantastic work ethic.

He concluded of the former Mamelodi Sundowns forward: "He scored for me in his first game but even before that I could see this was a boy who has got something special, something a little different.

"I knew he would get better and better, but I must admit he has become a more accomplished player than even I expected.

"There is his work on the pitch, but he has also certainly had evolved off it too, his confidence has gone to a new level. he got his (BCom) degree and has taken the step to move overseas.

"He is the perfect example of a player that has gone from eight to 10."