Southend currently have twenty points, as opposed to the O’s 23 after their 4-1 defeat of Shrewsbury Town at Brisbane Road on Saturday, whilst tonight’s opposition in a 7:45 p.m. kick off are a point further back. The maximum reward for Blues in this evening’s fixture should take them into the play-off places for the first time since September 2002.
Despite the 4-0 defeat to Darlington at the Williamson Motors Stadium in their last away jaunt, the Seasiders can go into the match with the Iron in some confidence. Only that drubbing and a 2-1 home reversal to Wycombe Wanderers have stood in the way of a winning momentum picked up in defeated Macclesfield Town 2-1 at Roots Hall on August Bank Holiday Monday. In that time Steve Tilson’s men have won six outright (the Silkmen, Rushden & Diamonds 4-1, Notts County 2-1, Kidderminster Harriers 1-0, Boston United 2-1 and Swansea City 4-2) and defeated local rivals Colchester United on penalty kicks in the LDV Vans Trophy.
That sort of form – six wins and a draw from the last nine – which includes away wins at Nene Park, Meadow Lane and, to all intents and purposes, Layer Road, is undoubtedly promotion-clinching stuff, and should Tilson and assistant manager Paul Brush be able to sustain it over fifty matches, then another date in Cardiff, or better still, automatic promotion, is still within the Essex club’s grasp despite a torrid opening to the campaign.
The Iron, though, will have similar ideas having retained an unbeaten start to the season until the eighth match, when they went down to Chester City at Glanford Park, their only home defeat to date. In an even tighter League Two table than the closely-bunched final Third Division campaign was last time out, any one of the top fifteen-or-so clubs are capable of mounting a realistic charge, and that is with almost a third of the term completed.
Indeed, once this clash and Saturday’s trip to Shrewsbury Town’s Gay Meadow have been finished, Blues will know where they stand after fifteen matches. That is sure to be a pointer to their final league placing, and Tilson will be hoping that it is somewhere within the top seven.
Although clubs often rise and fall (look at York City last time around), at that stage of 2003/4 Hull City and Doncaster Rovers were both in the top three, play-off contenders Oxford United, Yeovil Town, Mansfield Town and Torquay United were all in the top seven and Carlisle United, eventually relegated, were bottom. However, a cautionary note sees the Shrimpers only one place above the Cumbrians, a situation the current management duo were integral in sorting out.
As Blues look to record a third successive win, they will be able to call upon Darryl Flahavan once again. The shotstopper was ruled out of the win over the Swans with a one-match suspension picked up (and enforced immediately) when he deliberately blocked Andy Kirk’s 45th-minute lob for the Pilgrims with his hand outside of the penalty area.
That does not mean to say that Ryan Clarke will drop right out of the squad – with Tesfaye Bramble having to deputise on that occasion, Tilson is sure to name the Bristol Rovers custodian on the substitutes’ bench as back up for any disciplinary or injury problems Flahavan may pick up in the ninety minutes. It will, by his own admission, be an improvement on his place in the reserves at the Memorial Stadium.
In front of the goalkeeper, there are unlikely to be any changes in personnel to the defence. Duncan Jupp had a decidedly off day against City, but he should be back to his reliable self at right-back, whilst Che Wilson returned to the sort of the form that saw him displace Nicky Nicolau in the starting eleven. The ex-Arsenal left-back will warm the bench, a position that he has not been used to in his career.
In the centre, Spencer Prior notched up his first goal for the Shrimpers since his return to the club eleven years after leaving them for Norwich City in 1993. The central defender found it extra sweet after plying his trade for Swansea’s rivals Cardiff City for three years and enduring a torrent of abuse. Adam Barrett was a rock alongside him, and both will continue what has been in general a successful partnership ahead of Andy Edwards.
There will be an enforced change out wide in the midfield. Mark Gower was debilitated when he clashed with Freddy Eastwood on the right-hand side of the midfield at the weekend, but it seemed as though it was an earlier clash with Welsh full-back Bradley Maylett that caused the injury some ten minutes earlier. The 26-year-old was forced to leave the ground on crutches, and having turned his ankle, he will be out of contention over the next few days, and is struggling to return for the Salop encounter.
In his stead should come Jimmy Corbett, who had his best match in a wide position for the Shrimpers after replacing the former Tottenham Hotspur Worthington Cup winner on the half-hour mark. The ex-Blackburn Rovers man has bided his time in the reserves, and despite his lack of pace, looked as though he was intent on not being removed from the side. Carl Pettefer will once again be the man switching flanks with him.
In the centre of midfield, Mark Bentley serves the final match of a three-game suspension, whilst Jay Smith remains a fortnight away from a comeback, which is likely now to be the home reserve fixture on November 10th. As a result, captain Kevin Maher and Lewis Hunt, who provide between them a solid defensive midfield base, will be the men charged with protecting the back four.
Up front, Tilson is buoyed by the return of pair Lawrie Dudfield and Tesfaye Bramble. The latter, who had dominated the headlines prior to the ‘arrival’ of comedian Terry Alderton and then the hat-trick heroics of Eastwood, by starring in goal for the Seasiders in the second half of the win against Boston, also picked up an injury in that game, but has overcome the knee complaint and is fit again.
Dudfield, too, is back after a spell on the sidelines with a thigh problem, and will join Bramble on the bench. The reason for the pair, who had looked to be Blues’ best pairing in attack, sitting this one out is the outstanding form of Grays Athletic debutant Eastwood in not just bagging a hat-trick but also the faster Southend United strike in League history after 7.64 seconds, and Wayne Gray, who seems to have found his powerful touch since returning to the team against Colchester United.
As a result of all these experienced men coming back into contention, it seems likely that youth teamers Nick Morgan, who made his first appearance on the bench at the weekend, and Michael Kightly, who replaced Eastwood for ten seconds to allow the striker to get the Roots Hall roar, will drop out of the squad.
Highly-rated right-back Nathan Stanton could yet make his place in the side despite being carried off just 35 minutes into the Iron’s 3-2 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday. It was suspected that the 24-year-old would miss at least three weeks, but the injury appears to have settled down and he could be named in the side.
Former Everton and Bradford City winger Peter Beagrie is another man who could come back into the reckoning. The wide man has played against the Shrimpers to devastating effect in the past, and could return in place of loanee winger Tom Brighton on the left-hand side after recovering from his own recent injury worries.
Scunny manager Brian Laws is rightfully respectful of the Shrimpers in talking to the official Scunthorpe United website, www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk, “Southend had a terrific win at the weekend and they will be full of confidence so the game will not be easy”. The former Nottingham Forest man saved his most noteworthy praise for Blues goalscoring sensation, however.
“The boy Eastwood will be full of confidence after his hat-trick and I’m sure he will be trying all sorts of things”, Laws predicted. He went on to add, “They have other players too but if you give space and time to any player they will hurt you. We know it is not going to be easy but if we play at out best we will win the game”.
The Shrimpers will be hoping it is they, and not the Iron, that are on top form tonight. We hope to have a full match report up in the early hours of tomorrow morning, and can only apologise for the inconvenience caused over the last couple of days with the TLG site being down to non-Broadband users. We are unaware of the cause of this problem, but since we couldn’t even get articles onto the site, we are sorry that coverage of the win over Swansea City did not appear until this morning.
LIKELY SQUADS
Scunthorpe United | Southend United | |
4-4-2 Paul Musselwhite Nathan Stanton Lee Ridley Andy Butler Andy Crosby Cleveland Taylor Ian Baraclough Richard Kell Peter Beagrie Paul Hayes Steve Torpey --- Tommy Evans Clifford Byrne Matthew Sparrow Michael Rankine Tom Brighton --- Mark Jackson Terry Barwick Andy Keogh Wayne Graves Lee Featherstone Andy Parton | Starting Line-Ups GK DR DL DC DC MR MC MC ML FC FC Substitutes 1 2 3 4 5 Also Available * * * * * * | 4-4-2 Darryl Flahavan Duncan Jupp Che Wilson Adam Barrett Spencer Prior Carl Pettefer Kevin Maher Lewis Hunt James Corbett Freddy Eastwood Wayne Gray --- Ryan Clarke Nicky Nicolau Andy Edwards Lawrie Dudfield Tesfaye Bramble --- Michael Husbands Michael Kightly Stuart Williams Nick Morgan |
REFEREE: Eddie Evans (Greater Manchester)
ASSISTANTS: Martin Robinson (County Durham) and Michael Short (South Yorkshire)
Evans’ Last Time With The Shrimpers |
Mansfield Town 1 Southend United 0@ Field Mill in the Third Division on Saturday 24/01/04 |
Sent Off: none |
Booked: Mark Warren (Southend United) 48 – foul Iyseden Christie (Mansfield Town) 71 – foul |
Mark Wallis said… |
“Eddie Evans (Manchester) 2 out of 10 - Evans was awful! The Manchester-based official certainly set his standards when he awarded that amazing early penalty and he continued in the same vein throughout. One thing he somehow didn't notice was the Mansfield players booting the ball into the stand every time a free kick went against them.” |
Evans’ Last Match |
|
Sent Off: none |
Booked: Steve Haslam (Halifax Town) 73 – unsporting behaviour |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com