Tessem looks forward to a bright Saints future

The future's looking a bit brighter for Jo Tessem at the moment. Upon the arrival of Gordon Strachan, Jo saw his first team opportunities disapear and after a couple of months was suggesting that his future would probably lie elsewhere. A month further on and Jo has signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2005, he gets called back up to the Norway squad and he grabbed Saints equaliser against Arsenal with a lovely header. Manager Gordon Strachan understands Tessem's frustrations and is happy at the players response. Strachan said: "He has changed his own destiny and changed his lifestyle. He's much happier now as you feel empty when you are not playing," he added.

"If any team, including the real top sides, come here and get a draw, then it's a good point as Arsenal have world-class players."

Tessem is also looking ahead to a prosperous future at the club. Jo says: "I enjoyed playing up front again. That is where I started playing football so it is in my blood. I went in attack a few times for Molde too but usually I played on the right but I love scoring goals and it was a good feeling when this one went in. I saw the ball coming over and knew if I met it right then it would go in. I had good control because I was completely on my own - and thankfully Claus Lundekvam ducked out of the way to let me get it. He has never scored a Premiership goal in his life so he had to keep his head down!

"It was a very important goal. It means that so far this year we have been to Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal and come away unbeaten each time - despite going behind. That is great for our belief and keeps us moving in the right direction. If you can win your home games and pick up a point away then you are doing well and that is happening for us at the moment. He said: "Things are looking a lot brighter for me now. It was good to get the contract sorted. It took longer than it should have done but I am happy with that and with scoring again. It has been a long time coming but I have scored goals every season since I started playing and I had missed that feeling this season. But we definitely deserved the draw. We got better as the game went on and the fact that Arsenal did not get the second goal meant we always had a chance."