CLUB captain Jason Dodd wants to crown his Saints career with another European adventure.

The fullback led the team against Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup last year and is targeting a return to continental competition as the challenge for the forthcoming campaign.

Last season was Saints' only taste of European competition in the past 20 years, but Dodd wants more.

He said: "To be realistic we are not going to be challenging Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea for the title.

"That doesn't mean we don't try to win, but realistically our aim is to get into Europe, it's as simple as that and anything more is a bonus.

"Who knows if you can be consistent?

"We did well against some of the top teams last season, but dropped points to people around us and that is something we have got to work on.

"The big boys are still way above everyone else, but there is room for teams to go for fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

"We put ourselves in a good position last year and let ourselves down towards the end of the season which was disappointing.

"We are hoping that we have got a good chance to make a good start.

"In the first few matches, Chelsea are the only team among the big boys that we have got."

In fact, among the first 10 league matches, Chelsea away and Newcastle at home are Saints' only games against teams that finished in the top five last season.

Dodd, meanwhile, is better placed than anyone to reflect on Saints' changing status as he limbers up for his 15th season with the club.

"Up until three or four years ago, we were favourites to go down and we used to thrive on that," he remembered.

"We would get the papers and see all the pundits predicting us to go down and we used that.

"But now it is a bit different, we have got to improve and the supporters will want us to do better.

"We feel we have got a decent squad, I hope no-one will go and everyone is in contract until at least the end of this season (2004/05)."

After making an excellent recovery from Henri Camara's horror tackle against Wolves back in April, Dodd is in optimistic mood as he looks ahead to the new season.

That's despite the fact he has plenty of competition at right-back from the likes of Darren Kenton, Chris Baird, who has just signed a new two-year contract, and Paul Telfer, while Mikael Nilsson can also play there if required.

The 34-year-old suffered a medial ligament tear, but said: "My knee is okay, I have been running for a couple of weeks and most of the summer and it has been going really well.

"I have had no problems at all and I'm looking forward to the new season."

Dodd, who is just four matches away from completing 400 league appearances for the only professional club he has ever played for, is expecting new boss Sturrock to really stamp his authority on the team in the next few weeks.

"We are all on a par and we want to show the manager what we can do," he said. "It was difficult for him last season, not just the timing of when he came in, but also there were all the injuries at the end of the season.

"I am sure he will be eager.

"The pre-season is a period when he can work with us and you can really concentrate on your football.

"He can let us know what he wants."