French defender Alain Goma is targeting another taste of European football with Fulham.

The pundits have been unanimous in tipping Chris Coleman to be the first top flight manager to be sacked and made Fulham favourites for relegation, but Goma believes there is real strength in the club’s squad and feels that the Whites might well surprise a few people.

Speaking to the club’s official website, it was clear that Goma still has fond memories of Fulham’s first foray into continental football under Jean Tigana.

“Personally I enjoyed playing in Europe. It’s a pleasure to play against European opposition and travel to their countries. It’s always a new experience and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, the season after next I will be playing in Europe again with Fulham. As a player you always want to be playing in European competitions but for me this season is all about making sure we finish in a good league position and have a good Cup run. It’s quite difficult to predict the future in football but hopefully we will be able to keep most of our players and build on what we have achieved so far.

Goma has also been pleased that the rumoured French exodus predicted after Tigana’s departure has not materialised – with Louis Saha and Sylvain Legwinski committing their long-term future to Fulham this summer.

“Actually there are lots of players who move around from club to club throughout their career. It’s very rare to see a player stay at one club for his whole career today. So it’s important for Fulham that we have some players who think long-term, are ambitious and want to commit to the club. I can see many of the players here have that spirit and that’s very important for the future.”