TRIPLE European Cup winner Jimmy Case has this message for Saints as they prepare for Wednesday's UEFA Cup tie in Romania: Seize the moment!

Saints need to score in order to stand any chance of reaching the second round after being held 1-1 at St Mary's by Steaua Bucharest last month.

Though the Romanian League leaders haven't conceded a home goal all season in six matches, ex-Saint Case is confident Gordon Strachan's men can progress.

But he is warning the massed ranks of travelling Saints fans - over 2,000 are travelling to watch the club's first European away tie for 19 years - to expect "a dour match."

Case, a commentator for the Saint Radio station and a European Cup winner with Liverpool in 1977, 1978 and 1981, said: "You know Saints will be under some pressure early on but Steaua aren't going to attack for 90 minutes - at some point you will get your chances and you must seize that moment and take them.

"It's not a hidden thing; as a player on the pitch and as a manager you can sometimes sense when your moments are coming, and the fans can also sense them too."

Case admits Saints might have to play a "spoiling" game that's foreign to their make-up if they want to boost their chances of progression.

"When we went away in Europe at Liverpool our fans understood what we need to do, and that was to play a spoiling game. It wasn't all total football," he remarked.

It was about killing the crowd's noise, killing the opposition's patterns of play. Yes, if one of our players went down he took a little longer getting up.

"I know it's against the make-up of an English player. If you go down you automatically want to get up again even if your leg is hurting. But in these sort of games you have to learn to play against a team as they are looking to play against you.

"Steaua were a talented side - you could see they have that pedigree which comes from playing in Europe almost every season.

"This was one of the hardest draws Saints could have had, all the Steaua players looked comfortable on the ball - even their defenders looked as if they could play in midfield.

"They seemed to have this ability to pass and move without getting flustered."

Case added: "I'm sure the supporters were a bit surprised at Steaua - I was certainly a bit surprised.

"Obviously Gordon went and watched them, he would have seen videos - but the fans had nothing to go on, they didn't know what to expect.

"It will be difficult for Saints, but it's not beyond them.

"There were periods of the game at St Mary's when Saints were on top.

"If we had got totally turned over then it would have been a very daunting trip this week, but they know if they score they can go through.

"Ideally, Saints would soak up the pressure, kill the game, silence the home fans, and score late on. I would prefer to see them score much later than much earlier.

"Saints will have to soak up early pressure, Steaua will be coming at them to score another early goal.

"It's important the fans understand, and I think they do, that Saints won't be going out to Steaua to play dazzling football.

"Patience is a keyword. It's vital that Saints defend well, and they have shown they can do that, and then look for a bit of magic from someone like Beatts.

"I expect Saints to pose a problem from corners and free-kicks; due to the fact they might spend a lot of time sitting deep, they might not get the chance to create too much from open play.

"Saints defended very well at Newcastle, it was just a great goal that beat them. It was a great through ball from Jenas and Alan (Shearer) is Alan.

"I know Steaua haven't conceded at home this season but it could be that their league is one where you have just a couple of good teams and the rest are also-rans.

"That helps them get into Europe most seasons, and that's how you build up European experience."