Football: Let's start where we left off says Blues talisman Osman; BLUES TRIP TO THE USA.

Byline: By IAN DOYLE reporting from Columbus

IF there was one Everton player whose fortunes last season were intrinsically linked to those of the team, it was Leon Osman.

While David Moyes' side swayed from the blows of double European elimination and slumping to the bottom of the Premiership, so Osman struggled to recapture the form that had helped the Goodison outfit to Champions League qualification the previous campaign.

Come the New Year, however, and as things began to improve for Everton, so Osman emerged as a steadying influence, his confidence flourishing as he became an ever-present as Moyes's men steered themselves away from relegation danger and within sight of Uefa Cup qualification.

Now the 25-year-old midfielder is hopeful of building on his impressive end to the campaign by ensuring Everton race out of the blocks when Premiership hostilities commence against Watford on August 19.

Certainly, the signs have been good thus far, with reports of an effervescent Osman on the training ground being backed up by his eyecatching performance on the right flank in the friendly defeat to Celtic last Sunday.

"I finished the season in quite high spirits and I didn't want the season to end," he said.

"When pre-season started I was raring to go and have been keen to get into things as soon as possible.

"Like the team, I didn't start the season too well last time around and I don't want that to happen again.

"We're all aiming to start the season strongly and all the players are preparing in pre-season with that in mind."

Everton's desperately poor start to last term undermined any attempt to repeat their achievements of the previous campaign, when they had finished fourth.

But Osman believes the experience produced a number of telling positives for the team that has given them the self-belief they can vastly improve their standing this time around.

"We need to start the season a lot better than we did last time," he said.

"We need to build confidence and hopefully go on and show the football that we know we are capable of.

"There were a number of things that combined for us to have that poor start, but there's no point looking back at it now. It was a negative time for us, and we need to instead look at the positives of how we got over that.

"The character of the squad pulled us through and we finished the season quite strongly. If we can keep that momentum going hopefully we can have a good season."

The momentum of that successful 2004-5 campaign was built by their pre-season tour of Houston, and Osman believes a similar squad spirit can be fostered on their current trip to the United States.

"I think you have to treat each trip differently but we want to come back off this trip as positively as we did after we came back for Houston," said the midfielder.

"We've had some good training sessions.

"But to be honest we would rather have been in our beds for our first training session after we landed here, it felt strange to be training at what to us felt like 1am in the morning!"

A measure of Osman's role in Everton's revival is that he started the final 20 games of last season after making a goalscoring appearance as substitute in the FA Cup tie at Millwall.

However, the Billinge-born midfielder is taking nothing for granted, particularly as he believes the squad has been greatly enhanced by the batch of summer arrivals.

"Each week, I still see myself as fighting for a place and I'm really pleased if my name is read out from the teamsheet," said Osman.

"That's the way I prefer to treat things, then I go out and try and show why I've been picked.

"We feel we've got a good squad of players and we're adding to it.

"Better players are coming in and, as someone who is already here, you have to raise your game to make sure you keep your place in the first 11.

"It's not just me, though. It's the same for the whole squad, and that competition for places can only be good for everyone."

Leading the newcomers is pounds 8.6m record signing Andrew Johnson, and Osman has already been impressed by the former Crystal Palace striker, most evidently during the friendly in Glasgow on Sunday.

"Having a player like AJ in attack gives you more options as midfielder," he says. "The little runs people with the pace of AJ can make along the channels and down the line, and if they make for example 10 of those runs and you find them three times and they get the shot off, then that's why they're the type of players who are more likely to score goals."

Besides Johnson, Moyes can call upon James Beattie, James McFadden, Victor Anichebe and, when he regains fitness, James Vaughan in attack.

And Osman believes the versatility of that quintet can ensure Everton improve on last term's 11th-placed Premiership finish.

"The likes of AJ and Faddy, when they are up front they are the type of players you know who are quick and you can put the ball into 20 yards of space and you know they will likely get there ahead of the defenders," he said.

"On the other hand, if you're under pressure and you knock the ball up to an area, the likes of Beats and young Victor can hold the ball up.

"We've got four good strikers at the moment - five when Vaughany gets back to fitness - and they are looking sharp.

"If we can carry on where we left off last season, I'm sure we will do better this time around."

CAPTION(S):

Everton midfielder Leon Osman (left) is all set for the new season' Leon Osman has high hopes for Everton's strikers