Van Der Sar on Europe

Edwin Van Der Sar is looking forward to the Champions League match away in Kiev.

"I quite like going to Eastern Europe. It is a part of the world you don't go to that often. I went to Albania with Holland a little while ago and that was pretty bad. I don't expect Kiev to be like that but the hotels and the stadiums are not generally as good. The floodlights are usually quite bad and the crowd is fanatical. Obviously, winning big prizes are the most important thing in any player's career. But those games you play abroad, on a bad pitch, with a hostile crowd against you, they are good experiences as well."

"The earlier we qualify, the better it will be. Certainly, we do not want to be in the situation we were in last season when we won our first three games, then had to wait until the last one to get through. If we can do well in Kiev, then beat them at home in two weeks, there is a possibility we will be through, which will take the pressure off in the later stages."

"We had problems with injuries and suspensions at the start of the season that cost us some points. But everyone goes through a bad patch, it is the team who are most consistent throughout that will win the title. We have got our form back again and now we need to make the unbeaten sequence last as long as possible."