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But all that cannot be thought about - for not only have United got a tough replay in the North East on Tuesday night - nut this is a most vital of League matches. Tes Bramble's 78th minute strike at Bristol Rovers two weeks ago earned Southend a hard-fought 1-0 victory, but it came after four consecutive League defeats and Southend, who have already lost five of their nine home games so far this season will be looking for nothing but maximum points against a side relegated from Division Two last season.
Newman is delighted that he can once again field midfielder Jay Smith in his starting line-up; with the battling engine-room worker having signed permantely from Aston Villa on an eighteen-month deal. Southend also welcome back Stephen Broad and Graeme Jones to the squad, Broad returning from suspension and frontman Jones from a hamstring injury. It is expected that both will slot straight back into the starting eleven with Jones partnering Bramble on the forward line.
Barrington Belgrave once again misses out through suspension, but he's eligable to return to action on Tuesday, but Mark Salter is available once again having been cup-tied last week. Needless to say he'll miss out again on Tuesday.
As you can see the from previous five meetings listed below, Blues and Bournemouth have hardly been regular opponents in recent years (although they have in fact played us on more occassions than any other side), but few supporters will forget last last phoenomenal meeting between the two sides. It was a Division Two fixture in late March 1998, and after a dull, goalless first half, the match suddenly came to life in epic fashion when Mark Stein slammed the visitors in front on 58 minutes. In what was a dire season Southend supporters could be forgiven for thinking the worst but suddenly the Shrimpers stunned Bournemouth with an incredible onslaught that instantly brought four goals in just six minutes to leave the visitors, and indeed the home supporters somewhat shell-shocked. Southend eventually won the match 5-3 and not only was it the last game United won in Division Two but it's also the last time the Shrimpers notched up five goals. We wouldn't mind a repeat performance today!
LAST MATCHES:-
Southend United 1 (Lee og 3) Hartlepool United 1 (Barron 23), Line-up: Flahavan, Beard, Searle, Cort, McSweeney, Smith, Maher, Scully (Jenkins 90), S. Clark, Bramble, Rawle. Unused - Thurgood, Tilson, Jordan, Gay.
AFC Bournemouth 2 (Thomas 38, Elliott 73) Doncaster Rovers 1 (Gill 71), Line-up: Moss, Young, Broadhurst, C. Fletcher, Purches, Elliott, O'Connor, Hayter, Thomas (Browning 75), S. Fletcher, Feeney (Foyewa 82). Unused - Holmes, Narada, Tardif.
LAST FIVE MEETINGS:-
21st March, 1998 - Southend United 5 (Boere 59 [pen], 66, Thomson 62, 65, Clarke 88) AFC Bournemouth 3 (Stein 58, Bailey 75, S. Fletcher 90) - Division Two
18th November, 1997 - AFC Bournemouth 2 (S. Fletcher 44, Warren 47) Southend United 1 (Dublin 5) - Division Two
23rd March 1991 - AFC Bournemouth 3 (Blissett, Prior og, Watson) Southend United 1 (Angell) - Division Three (old)
5th October, 1990 - Southend United 2 (Martin, Angell) AFC Bournemouth 1 (Ekoku) - Division Three (old)
10th March, 1984 - AFC Bournemouth 1 (Savage [pen]) Southend United 0 - Division Three (old)
THE SHRIMPERS (from):- Darryl Flahavan, Daniel Gay, Mark Beard, Damon Searle, Leon Cort, Stephen Broad, Phil Whelan, David McSweeney, Kevin Maher, Jay Smith, Stuart Thurgood, Steven Clark, Neil Jenkins, Tony Scully, Mark Salter, Mark Rawle, Graeme Jones, Tesfaye Bramble.
AFC Bournemouth squad unavialable at time of publication.
Referee - Paul Armstrong (Thatcham)
Armstrong last officiated a Blues game just a month ago, the 6-1 debacle at Swindon, where he sent off Steven Clark for a second bookable offence. His record for this season is 16 Games, 54 Yellow Cards and 3 Reds. In fact, Armstrong seems to have a record of Cup games with the Shrimpers, having taken charge of the Tranmere Cup tie last season. He also controlled the 0-0 draw with Hartlepool in 2001 (where he booked six players) and the 2-0 home defeat to Darlington in 2000 (three bookings) so he is yet to witness Southend win. He has only been a Football League referee for two-and-a-half seasons, in that time he has officiated in 71 games, producing 212 yellow and 9 red cards.
Assistant Referee's - Russell Evans (Kent) and Eric Makrell (Hampshire)
Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com
HEAD-TO-HEAD SOUTHEND UNITED v AFC BOURNEMOUTH
Stats by www.soccer-stats.co.uk
RESULTS RECORD
Southend United - 31
AFC Bournemouth - 33
Draw - 22
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