SuperSport United captain Dean Furman is adamant that the team will pick up from where they left off last season after they turned a near-impossible comeback into a top- eight finish.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori had a difficult start to last season but finished off the campaign with the Nedbank Cup.

"When the coach [Stuart Baxter] came in, we had to re-assess our goals slightly and we had to say that the league is out of reach, but the top eight was within our reach. We got that and we said the Nedbank Cup could be one for us and we got that," reflected the 28-year-old.

"We improved vastly, so for us having finished the season on a high, we hope we can take that momentum into the new season. I don't want to give away too much, but we've signed some terrific players like Yeye (Reneilwe Letsholonyane), Cole (Alexander) ... they are good with the ball going forward."

SuperSport's first attempt at silverware will be the MTN8. They take on rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals next Sunday at Loftus Stadium and, guess what, United lost all of their three encounters against Sundowns last season.

Furman, though, maintained that's all in the past and claimed SuperSport were looking better this time around.

"It is going to be tough. Sundowns are the champions and rightly so, because they were outstanding last season. It is going to be a very difficult game, but we will be fully prepared for it.

"Unfortunately for us, we suffered three defeats in the (Tshwane) Derby, so we got a bit of revenge (in mind) taking on Sundowns.

"And there will be no better time to do it than in the first round of the MTN8," Furman added.