Jason Dodd is dreaming of a silver send-off to The Dell if Saints can win their Worthington League Cup third round tie at home to Coventry.

The draw, made for all stages through to the final, has given Southampton the chance to avenge their 2-1 defeat by the Sky Blues in the second game of the season.

If they get through that they will face the winners of Arsenal v Ipswich with home advantage to be decided after the third round matches.

The winners will have a fifth round clash against one of Aston Villa, Manchester City, Wimbledon or Middlesbrough for a place in the semi-finals.

There they would face a team from the second quarter of the draw which would be one of Spurs, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bradford, Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd, West Ham or Blackburn.

It is a difficult but not impossible route to the final and the skipper would dearly love to crown the club's final season at The Dell by lifting a trophy.

He said: "It would be a fitting way to say goodbye to the ground by winning a cup. The punters deserve that or at least a good long run in the competition.

"It is a clich that you have to beat all the big clubs to win a trophy but we are capable of beating anyone on our day. Our league form has picked up and hopefully we can keep that going tomorrow."

Saints will be bidding for a fifth successive victory at home to Middlesbrough tomorrow for the first time since January 1981.

That was the last time they won five in a row in all competitions, although they did enjoy six league victories on the spin under Ian Branfoot in March 1992 but that was interspersed with two cup defeats.

Victory could lift Southampton into the top six but manager Glenn Hoddle warned: "We are also only three points away from third from bottom.

"We are on a good run but we must not get carried away or relax and stop doing the things which have got us here. We must not change our mental approach in any way.

"I was delighted with the players' attitude at Mansfield in midweek and it would be a shame if we did not approach tomorrow's game in the same way."

Saints though have four injury worries. Jo Tessem, called up for Norway, is very doubtful with a bruised foot and Hassan Kachloul is still struggling with a dead leg.

Dean Richards is improving from a kick on a heel but still far from certain to play and Tahar El Khalej trained yesterday but his calf is still troubling him.

Mark Draper's ankle injury is improving and he has a chance while Matthew Le Tissier is in line for his first Premiership start of the season.

Hoddle added: "The injuries are a major concern at the moment . They are all touch and go for tomorrow and that is a real problem I have a lot of thinking to do."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.