RICKIE Lambert is confident Saints will hit the ground running once the League One campaign gets under way.

Lambert scored Saints’ equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Sutton to open his pre-season account.

And the striker felt the game was a useful exercise to help Alan Pardew’s men towards full fitness.

“We are getting there,” he said.

“We are getting to our level, the level we got to last year.

“And we know that when we get there we can be a force in this league and that is what we are trying to do.”

Lambert added: “I was blowing a bit at the end. I think all the lads were blowing so it was a good workout.”

Like his manager Alan Pardew, Lambert was disappointed with Saints first-half display at Gander Green Lane but happier with the second.

And Lambert said the Saints players knew their first-half performance wasn’t up to scratch.

“He (Pardew) wasn’t happy obviously but the lads weren’t happy themselves,” he said.

“We got off to a disappointing start. We knew our performance wasn’t good enough and we needed to pick it up a few levels.

“We did that second half.

“We came back and looked a lot stronger in the second half.”

Lambert got off the mark in pre-season in slightly unconventional fashion.

While it was no surprise to see him score a free-kick, the fact it came from near the touchline on the left flank rather than his normal set-piece range was a little unusual.

“I have just tried to hit it as far as I can in line with the far post so hopefully someone will get a nick,” he said.

“You see it quite often when people miss it and the keeper goes for it so that was a bit of luck that went for me.”

Lambert said he “can’t wait” for the new campaign to start on Saturday week.

And he will be heading into it full of confidence after a stunning debut season at St Mary’s.

The 28 year-old struck a sensational 37 times in 2009/10 – 36 of those coming in Saints colours after he netted on the opening day of the season for Bristol Rovers.

That incredible haul, which made him the top scorer in the whole Football League, came after he had belted 29 League One goals the previous season for Rovers.

But Lambert insisted he hasn’t set himself a goals target for the forthcoming campaign. “I’m not a person who sets targets,” he said.

“My only target is to be fit and try and play as well as I can.

“If that happens then I know goals will come.”