Last term the Shrimpers came on strong during the second half of the campaign to secure a place in the play-offs. Step up Macca and Captain Adam who are looking for the same thing to happen this time around.
Macca insists Blues must begin to believe in themselves if they are to work their way back up the table. The tough tackling midfielder was unable to stop Southend suffering a 3-0 at league leaders Leicester City on Saturday.
However McCormack, who made his 100th appearance for the club, is sure his side still have what it takes as he told the Southend Evening Echo: "It was always going to be hard for us at Leicester but it was still disappointing and we need to start believing in ourselves. They had a little bit more quality in the final third than we did and we didn't help ourselves by giving the ball away in some bad areas. I think we're lacking a bit of confidence in front of goal as well right now but we have to work through it and we can still do well because we have some real quality here. The Leicester game is done and dusted and we have to look forward and work hard to make sure we're ready for Huddersfield this weekend."
The reverse at the Walkers Stadium, which saw home striker Matt Fryatt score his second succesive hat-trick against a club from Essex, means the Blues have now won just one of their last eight league games. That has seen them slip to 11th in the table, eight points below the play-offs. But McCormack is sure they can soon close that gap.
He continued: "We've had a lot of changes this year and I think there are only four or five of us left from last season. Half the team has changed and when that happens it does take time for people to adapt and get used to one another. We haven't had a settled side either which makes it a more difficult task but after Christmas we should be able to field the same side week in, week out. That will make a difference and then I think you will see that we can still be one of the best sides in this league."
Meanwhile Captain Adam took a history lesson: "Last year we were nowhere at Christmas and looked out of it. But in the end we got in the play-offs and it shows what can happen. So although we may be eight points off the pace at the moment it's still possible and we know what we can do but we need to get back to winning ways. Once we get one I think more will start to follow."
That was always going to be tough at Leicester and Captain Adam was full of praise for the Foxes and their in-form striker Matt Fryatt: "He drops into positions that make him hard to pick up. The first goal was a fantastic finish and the second one took a slight deflection off me before going in. It was disappointing but they are a very good team and the league table shows that. We need to learn from this. We have to stop giving the ball away in bad areas because we were our own worst enemies at times against Leicester and we can't afford to do that again this weekend."