While Matthews feels that his side can finish inside the top three in the league, he insists he won't be putting extra pressure on coach Eric Tinkler who has already delivered the MTN8 trophy to the club.
“We are not going to put any pressure on Eric, he has already delivered a trophy for us,” Matthews said.
“He has delivered a continental showpiece. We believe that we have the depth in our squad to be competitive in the league and to finish in the top four, irrespective of whatever cup run we have.
“That's going to be the standard for us. We believe we can still catch up with the leaders and at least qualify for the top three or four, and if we can qualify for Champions League that will be the best.
“That's the target, to qualify for the Champions League. We feel that is the next step for us but it is not an easy one.”
He added: “But we have to be realistic if Eric finishes a few positions lower in the league than he could have. We still have silverware and a silver star. Nobody is going to have a problem with that.”