Styling The Background of An Active Superfish Menu Option

Styling The Background of An Active Superfish Menu Option

Im using a superfish menu with the class .sf-menu to do a menu. I wish on
hover of the ul li for the li before to stay a certain background colour.
My code for the menu is this :
<ul class="sf-menu" id="example">
<li class="current">
<a href="followed.html">Home</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="followed.html">Knives</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="followed.html">Cardsharp4
natural</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Cardsharp4 black</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Cardsharp3
natural</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Cardsharp2 black</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Cardsharp2
natural</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<a href="followed.html">Flashlights</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="followed.html">Flashlight 1</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Flashlight 1</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Flashlight 1</a></li>
<li><a href="followed.html">Flashlight 1</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<a href="followed.html">Camera</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="followed.html">E-Bike</a>
</li>
</ul>
Ive tried 4 different selectors and none seem to work :S
.sf-menu ul li > .sf-menu li {background-color: #ffffff;}
.sf-menu ul li > li a {background-color: #ffffff;}
.sf-menu ul ul li:hover.active ul li a {background-color: #ffffff;}
.sf-menu ul li ul li:hover.active ul li {background-color: #ffffff;}
Please can anyone advise myself.
thankyou