Le Saux warns of Euro jitters

Graham Le Saux today urged his Southampton team-mates to steer clear of the European jitters which wrecked the continental dreams of his former club Chelsea for three years running.

Saints’ 19-year European exile ends tonight against Romania’s Steaua Bucharest at St Mary’s in a first round, first leg UEFA Cup clash.

But Le Saux warned how easy it can be for a campaign on foreign shores to shudder to a halt at the first hurdle.

Le Saux helped Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals in 1999 but then saw his team’s UEFA Cup hopes ended early by the minnows of St Gallen, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Viking Stavanger.

Le Saux said: “At Chelsea we did well in the Champions League but were then dumped out of the UEFA Cup in fairly unceremonious style in the next three years.

“Those games proved there is a fine line between success and being not such a good team. So it is important to draw on those experiences while not being swamped by negative thoughts.

“The players at Southampton have been talking about Europe since the day I signed here. Romanians are technically-gifted players and Steaua have vast experience - but we will create lots of chances if we take our enthusiasm and confidence into the match and play like we have been doing.

“But Steaua will try to frustrate us and keep the ball, while slowing the game down, which European teams do very well.”

Southampton’s run to last season’s FA Cup final, combined with Arsenal’s Champions League qualification, netted their first European campaign since 1984.

But, despite Saints’ six-game unbeaten opening to this term, boss Gordon Strachan is not getting carried away ahead of the showdown with the 1986 European champions, who finished second in the Romanian championship last term.

“The UEFA Cup is our number one priority right now but we are not good enough to have Europe as our overall priority,” Strachan said.

“We are not a Manchester United or Arsenal, with their Champions League priorities – and we don’t think of ourselves as being in that league.

“This is something new for nearly all my players and one or two of them might have thought Europe had passed them by.

“But it is more apprehension than excitement for me as it is my first European game as a manager. We go into it on form which is all right – not stunning or brilliant. But we are back to the level of consistency and the work rate we showed last season.”

Southampton captain Jason Dodd, 32, emphasised how important tonight’s match is for both the club and himself.

The right-back said: “I have been a Southampton player for 14 years and we had never been in touching distance of Europe until last season.

“I was disappointed to be injured for the cup final so I am really looking forward to these two games and I am going to thoroughly enjoy the European experience as I have not got many years left as a player.”

Southampton have started the season in fine form and Dodd added: “It is great to have an unbeaten run because we don’t normally have a good start.

“But we are fourth in the league and our Under-17s, Under-19s and reserves are top of their tables – so the first team are letting the club down.”

Strachan has been boosted by the return from injury of Rory Delap (ankle), Neil McCann (calf) and Fitz Hall (toe).