The Cobblers were beaten by Jo Kuffour's 72nd-minute goal at the Memorial Ground in what was their 13th away defeat in the league this season.
On Easter Monday they play host to a Blues team who also tasted defeat, losing 2-0 at home to MK Dons after missing a host of chances, only their fourth defeat in a fantastic run of 11 wins in 15 games.
The match is the first of a run of four at Sixfields in the final six of the campaign - the home games will go a long way to deciding the fate of Gray's men and he says the season all boils down to the next half-a-dozen games.
Gray told the Northampton Chronicle: "We've got a six-game season now. We've got four games at home and two away. We have to start by making it difficult for Southend on Monday. We know that will be a difficult game and nobody will lie down for us, but we need to start with keeping a clean sheet as that is letting us down at the moment."
He continued on the importance of trying to remain positive in such a dire position: "We ended up with four forwards on (at Bristol) and just couldn't get the break. We had an effort cleared off the line and Giles Coke came close. We have to keep believing and, as I said to the players, if we play like that then we will get a break. As long as we keep our chins up and start in a positive manner on Monday and get the crowd behind us then we have every opportunity to beat Southend. There's no easy game and we have to keep believing we can get out of this struggle. We got nothing yesterday but we have four winnable home games, starting with Monday, and there's no reason why we can't do it"
Northampton will be missing a few players on Monday as Gray confirmed that Luke Guttridge will not be fit to play, and he also has doubts over fellow midfielder Giles Coke, who left the Memorial on crutches.
"Giles got a kick in the calf, so whether Monday will be too early or not is yet to be seen. One or two others are carrying knocks and have just come back, Ryan (Gilligan) has just had a cartilage operation and put in a full shift for us."
On Easter Monday they play host to a Blues team who also tasted defeat, losing 2-0 at home to MK Dons after missing a host of chances, only their fourth defeat in a fantastic run of 11 wins in 15 games.
The match is the first of a run of four at Sixfields in the final six of the campaign - the home games will go a long way to deciding the fate of Gray's men and he says the season all boils down to the next half-a-dozen games.
Gray told the Northampton Chronicle: "We've got a six-game season now. We've got four games at home and two away. We have to start by making it difficult for Southend on Monday. We know that will be a difficult game and nobody will lie down for us, but we need to start with keeping a clean sheet as that is letting us down at the moment."
He continued on the importance of trying to remain positive in such a dire position: "We ended up with four forwards on (at Bristol) and just couldn't get the break. We had an effort cleared off the line and Giles Coke came close. We have to keep believing and, as I said to the players, if we play like that then we will get a break. As long as we keep our chins up and start in a positive manner on Monday and get the crowd behind us then we have every opportunity to beat Southend. There's no easy game and we have to keep believing we can get out of this struggle. We got nothing yesterday but we have four winnable home games, starting with Monday, and there's no reason why we can't do it"
Northampton will be missing a few players on Monday as Gray confirmed that Luke Guttridge will not be fit to play, and he also has doubts over fellow midfielder Giles Coke, who left the Memorial on crutches.
"Giles got a kick in the calf, so whether Monday will be too early or not is yet to be seen. One or two others are carrying knocks and have just come back, Ryan (Gilligan) has just had a cartilage operation and put in a full shift for us."