Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis has revealed his pride that the south coast club have secured a place in next season’s Europa League.
The Saints finished in seventh position in the Premier League table, but secured their place in Europe thanks to Arsenal’s 4-0 success over Aston Villa in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
It completes what has been a sensational first season in English football for coach Ronald Koeman, who saw his side challenge for a Champions League place for the majority of the campaign.
Southampton finished ten points off the top four in the end, but stopper Davis has revealed his pride at securing European qualification just four years after the club were playing in the third tier of English football.
He said: “I’m proud of my teammates, proud of the club and proud of what everyone has achieved. To be a club like Southampton and progress as we have done, to me it’s the natural next step to qualify for European competition.”
It is only the second time the Hampshire-based club have qualified for Europe in the past 30 years and they will begin their latest venture on the continent in the third qualifying round, that is due to kick-off on July 30.
Despite the early start to the 2015/16 campaign, the 38-year-old has confirmed that the club are fully focused on making an impact in Europe next season.
He continued: “We’re very excited and looking forward to the prospect of playing in the Europa League next year. But we’ve still got a hurdle to come across (the third qualifying round) and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”
The Saints will be hoping that the Europa League does not act as a distraction to the domestic campaign, with Koeman’s men available at 40/1 to be relegated come the end of the season.
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