The former Norwich City centre-back, who will come up against his former club in the anniversary match to commemorate fifty years at Roots Hall tomorrow afternoon, has revealed that he sees staying in Coca-Cola League One as his ultimate aim in what is likely to be his last full season as a professional.
“I suppose survival will be the aim,” the six-foot three-inch stopper said in the interview with www.givemefootball.com. However, in a counter-balance, he also offered a positive response: “I don’t think you can approach a season just purely trying to stay up because you’re sure to get dragged into a relegation battle. We should target a top half finish and perhaps the style of football we play might suit us more in League One.”
Blues boss Steve Tilson, a former teammate of Prior during the 34-year-old’s first spell at his hometown club, has only managed to add Mitchell Cole to a lightweight squad, but Prior appeared unflustered. “It’s a bit of a concern because we’ve only got a small, relatively inexperienced squad. I’m sure we will see some new faces sooner rather than later, but it’s a question of being patient.”
Given that Tilson has looked to sign young talent such as Grays Athletic duo Freddy Eastwood, 22, and Cole, 19, in his short tenure as Southend manager, the experienced Prior believes that adding some older faces will be the key to staying in League One. “Considering the young age of the squad, the team did fantastically well last season, but we need to add some experienced players who have played at this level before.”
Eastwood, who has already looked sharp in his pursuit of matching his 24-goal return in 2004/5, remains the main figure in United’s challenge. “He had a great season last year and is certainly a decent prospect,” Prior commented. “It will be interesting to see how he performs now he is stepping up another level. The manager has said that we need an experienced striker to help Freddy and I agree with him.”
As for the Rochford-born defender’s future, he refused to be drawn on what would happen when his contract runs out in twelve month’s time. “I might play one more season after that – we’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve applied for a visa to move to Australia to live, not to play, just for a change of lifestyle and I plan to move over there when I eventually hang up my boots.”
Whatever Prior decides to do, no-one will be able to deny him his part in three promotion seasons with the football club, and his central defensive partnership with Adam Barrett was undoubtedly one of the main reasons that the Shrimpers went up with three blanks in the three vital play-off matches.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com