THE surroundings may be unfamiliar, but the goal will remain the same for Graeme Dott.

As one of a contingent of three Scots, the Pocket Rocket will make the trip to London next week with Masters glory in his sights.

The Larkhall potter hopes a change of scene will herald a break in his fortunes as he bids for snooker's second-biggest prize.

Dott will be joined by John Higgins and Stephen Maguire at the Alexandra Palace as the tournament switches from the Wembley Arena – its home for the last four years – to a domain more renowned for hosting the world's top darting dynamos than snooker stars.

Despite earning himself a reputation as a Crucible king in recent years following a number of stunning displays on the game's biggest stage, Dott has struggled for success in the other two legs of snooker's triple crown, the Masters and the UK Championship.

He was a 6-2, quarter-final loser against Ding Junhui 12 months ago, and the 2006 world champion hopes his fortunes change for the better as he prepares for a first-round tie with Ali Carter.

"The Masters is one of our majors so it is a tournament that players like playing in and, of course, want to win," said Dott.

"It is a tournament that I have never played that well in unfortunately, so hopefully this year I can put that right.

"I have no idea why I don't seem to play well at the Masters, and the UK for that matter, but it is obviously frustrating.

"I am certainly looking to change that this year. We are at a new venue, the Alexandra Palace, so everyone is starting from scratch.

"Everything that has happened is in the past so hopefully I can get off to a good start this time. I have never played at Alexandra Palace before, but I am looking forward to it."

With all of snooker's biggest names and top talents on show in London, the route to Masters glory will be a difficult one for Dott and his fellow Scots.

He will kick-off against world No.11 Carter on Wednesday in the final match of the opening round as he takes his first step to what he hopes will be a maiden Masters final appearance on January 22.

Despite edging Carter when the pair met at the Crucible last April, the 34-year-old admits he will have to be at his best from the off to overcome The Captain.

He said: "Being drawn against Ali is a tough one to start off with, but you couldn't have hand-picked an easy game.

"I played him at the World Championships last year and beat him 13-11. I don't think I played that well during that match, but I managed to win it.

"Ali played better than me and I managed to steal it so I will need to up my game and be better than that next week. He is a quality player so it should be a good game.

"I don't think the result from the Worlds will make any difference this time. The only time it would perhaps come into play is if you won 13-1 or by a really big margin, then there might be a psychological edge.

"Ali will know that he should have won that match, he certainly had more chances than me. I managed to hold myself together at the end and steal it but I am certainly looking to improve this time."

Having slipped out of the upper echelons of the game following his world-title success six years ago, Dott is moving in the right direction as he bids to collect his first silverware since the 2007 China Open.

He has risen to seventh in the rankings, but has his sights set as high as possible in a fiercely competitive arena.

Dott said: "I have played in a few small tournaments this year and done okay. My ranking has moved up so, all in all, I have been pleased.

"I am at No.7 just now, but I would obviously like to get back to as near the No.1 spot as I can, that's what we're all playing for."