HOPE springs eternal for Mamelodi Sundowns as they cling to faint hopes of a top-eight league finish.

But Pitso Mosimane's side have to win all three of their remaining matches and hope that those who are above them in the top-eight race slip up to achieve their goal.

The Brazilians have been their own worst enemies in recent matches, dropping valuable points to late goals.

Legitimate questions have also been asked of the highly paid stars, who are unable to match their exorbitant salaries with consistently stellar results.

But Mosimane is quite optimistic Sundowns will not suffer the ignominy of finishing outside the top-eight bracket for the fourth time in the past 10 seasons.

"If you look at the standings we are not too far," said Mosimane, after he guided Downs to a 2-1 win over Free State Stars at home on Tuesday night.

"We feel much better ... a little bit of relief. And the players will sure feel confident after this win.

"I believe we can win all our remaining games. Why can't we?

"The performances have been good, but unfortunately the results have been letting us down.

"We dominate, we are creating lots of chances but we can't apply the right technique in the last phase. We are perhaps too stressed because of the league situation and the stress levels tend to rise when we mess up opportunities.

"There is nothing wrong with Sundowns. This is a good team."

Mosimane's men, however, raised a sweat against Ea Lla Koto. Nyasha Mushekwi grabbed a brace, while Daniel Cardoso scored for Stars.

"It was a difficult match against Stars, much more difficult than the (Bloemfontein) Celtic one. If you score, the whole tone changes."

With the Nedbank Cup taking centre stage this weekend, Downs will return to league action with a visit to Black Leopards on Tuesday.