Southampton are in Europa League action against Sparta Prague at St Mary’s this evening.
Southampton manager Claude Puel does not want the side’s Europa League adventure to be a one-off, suggesting the Saints should be targeting European football on a regular basis, the Daily Echo reports.
They take on Sparta Prague in their first group stage match this evening, after being knocked out at the play-off round last season.
Puel has said this Europa League campaign can be a great experience for the players, especially if they are involved in European competition in the years to come.
He is quoted by the Daily Echo, saying: “It’s always important to have a good experience and many possibilities.
“For us it will be important for the future to experience this and to play another campaign of the Europa League for next season for example.
“It’s very important to get good experience every time and not just to play in this competition for on.”
Puel will be hoping his side can generate some momentum by getting their European campaign off to the best possible start. The Saints have yet to record a win in their domestic season so far, picking up two points from their opening four games. They narrowly lost out to Arsenal at the weekend, which some may regard as unfortunate.
If they want to play in Europe next season they will need to improve on their start to the league season which has seen them face some tricky fixtures.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Puel wants to build on the good work that has been done in recent years at St Mary’s and establish them as a side that is at home when it comes to playing in Europe.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
