Dynamo Moscow's French international Mathieu Valbuena said Tuesday he was confident the Russian side could seriously challenge for trophies this season.

The Russian Premiership restarts after the winter break on March 7 with Dynamo in third nine points behind leaders Zenit St Petersburg, while in the Europa League last 32 round, Dynamo will face Belgian giants Anderlecht next month.

"Dynamo's management are working hard trying to change the team's mentality, to instill a winning mindset in the players," Valbuena said.

"The series of victories in Europa League boosted the team's morale greatly. It wasn't easy at all to achieve such a success but I believe it's the only way to believe in ourselves."

Valbuena, who joined Dynamo in August last year, scored three goals and made seven assists in 13 matches in the Russian league, and is also looking to improve his personal performance.

"It's very important for me - to be the best on the pitch," www.championat.com site quoted the 30-year-old winger as saying.

"I'm an ambitious person and I've come to Russia to achieve success with my current club Dynamo."

Valbuena, who has 44 caps, added that he has adjusted to his new life in the Russian capital much faster than he expected.

"I feel myself completely comfortable here now," the former Marseille player said in a recent interview with ITAR-TASS news agency.

"Manager (Stanislav) Cherchesov knew me and wanted to see me in his team. Now he really trusts me. I'm happy with my decision."

"Of course there were some problems at the beginning and I felt a bit uneasy but the team helped me to get over it quickly.

"I was lucky that my countrymen Christopher Samba and William Vainqueur are in the team.

"They helped me a lot to adjust to my new club, my new place much faster than I expected."