Golden Arrows skipper Trevor Mathiane is sanguine about the club's prospects of finishing in the top eight.

Having finished 10th and missed out on the top eight by just four points last season, Mathiane can't imagine Abafana Bes'thende suffering the same agony again this season, vowing they will give their best shot to be among the first eight teams on the log come end of the term.

"Last season we failed to be in the top eight and we were hurt. It cannot happen again... we are giving our all to ensure we finish inside the top eight bracket this time around and we are optimistic about that,'' said the 31-year-old Mathiane.

Abafana Bes'thende's top-eight credentials face a tricky test as they welcome title challengers SuperSport United at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium tomorrow (3.30pm).

Heading into the match against third-placed SuperSport, who annihilated Chippa United 3-0 last week Friday, Arrows are still reeling from last weekend's 1-0 home loss to leaders Kaizer Chiefs.

It was Lebogang Manyama's stoppage-time strike that inflicted pain on the Durbanites.

"At the moment SuperSport are doing very well, so we know it won't be an easy game. But we really cannot afford to lose, especially because we are at home,'' Mathiane said.

The Arrows skipper also drew a comparison between Chiefs and SuperSport, implying the Chiefs loss may have prepared them well to deal with Matsatsantsa.

"SuperSport and Chiefs nearly play similar football, they play with three strikers. So we are expecting more or less the same game that we played against Chiefs against SuperSport," Mathiane explained. "Everyone has recovered from that painful loss against Chiefs. We are all looking forward to the SuperSport game and we are ready to bounce back.''