We’re under no illusions how tough it’s going to be at Southend tonight.

Paul Sturrock has built a good squad down there and put a team together who have got something to prove.

A lot of them have been at a higher level and they’ve obviously got a good team spirit. There’s some experience with people like Neil Harris, who they signed in the summer, and then exciting ones like the winger Ryan Hall.

It’s a good blend of what you need to get out of League Two.

Nobody needs reminding that we got absolutely battered there last year. But it definitely won’t be a repeat of that.

In the last four games we’ve been a totally different team compared with the beginning of the season.

Even though we didn’t win last Saturday, it was still a game that eight or nine weeks ago we would have lost.

Everybody’s been going on since that we should be beating Plymouth but they have really improved now. Even their players were telling me how different it is since they brought four new ones in and the boost it has given everyone.

For us, it’s a case of picking up as many points as quickly as possible. Travelling-wise, after tonight, we’ve been looked after well with the Christmas fixtures.

There’s a ten-day gap before things pick back up and then we’ve got two home games coming. It’s important we take advantage of that.

We’ve got to get to January as best we can, when obviously the gaffer’s got his targets of who he wants and who he doesn’t.

With a couple of additions, I don’t think we’ll be far off from being a good team.

The manager’s got a settled core of players from the last few games. If he adds two or three to that, it will be a solid group more than capable of getting us back up the table.