THE distinguished Saints career of Jason Dodd appears to be nearing the end.

The 34-year-old club captain, who is currently stranded on 399 league appearances, is poised for his first spell away from the club since arriving from Bath City some 16 years ago in March 1989 for £50,000.

The Daily Echo understands that Dodd, whose only appearance for Saints under Harry Redknapp was the 5-1 defeat at Tottenham before Christmas, remains keen to play regular first-team football.

And, last night, Plymouth emerged as front-runners to take him on loan with fellow Championship strugglers Brighton also interested.

Dodd's current contract with Saints expires this summer.

He has not spoken publicly of his plans beyond this season, although news of a possible loan move suggests he wants to prolong his playing days.

If Saints do stay in the Premiership, it appears very unlikely he would be offered another contract.

Of course, were Saints to be relegated, then he might be kept on.

Dodd has appeared only five times for the first-team this season and has struggled to find match sharpness.

Yet his presence, positional sense and composure on the ball remain big assets and he put in a strong performance last November to help Saints to a 2-1 win over Redknapp's Pompey at St Mary's.

Dodd has also kept himself in good shape despite suffering a back injury this season.

However, Redknapp has built his current Saints team without him.

The Saints manager is known to be a fan of Dodd's leadership skills and dressing-room personality, but now has the likes of Rory Delap, Paul Telfer and Martin Cranie ahead of him in the right-back pecking order.

Redknapp hinted Dodd was not part of his plans after saying "one or two" had played their last game following the 5-1 drubbing at White Hart Lane.

However, even if Dodd were to be loaned to a lower division club, he could still return for an emotional St Mary's send-off on the final day of the season against Manchester United on May 15.

Dodd's loyalty and commitment have certainly cemented his place in Saints' history and were key factors in the club maintaining their top-flight status throughout the 1990s.

He is comfortably the longest-serving current player and was awarded a testimonial in the penultimate match at The Dell.

In all competitions, Dodd has appeared 484 times for the club, scoring 13 goals and playing under 12 different managers from Chris Nicholl right through to Redknapp.