PREVIEW | Southend United (A)

THE DETAILS

Southend United v Wealdstone

Vanarama National League

Roots Hall

Friday 15th April, 3:00pm kick-off

TICKETS

Tickets for our Good Friday trip to Essex are cash only at the turnstiles and are not available to purchase online in advance of the game.

Our hosts have kindly agreed to honour the £2 discount that is applied to tickets purchased in advance on the away turnstile on the day so tickets are priced at £18 Adults, £13 Concessions (Aged 60+, 17-22, Students, Emergency service workers, Disabled), £8 Juniors (aged 9-16), £3 Children (aged 8 and under).

Wealdstone fans will be housed in the all-seater Solopress North Bank and you can find a detailed press release on ticket info HERE.

THE CONTEXT

Both sides have an air of difference to their teams from when they last met on the August Bank Holiday at Grosvenor Vale in a match that ended 0-0. Southend have a much changed squad since then with a number of incomings and outgoings after they initially struggled to life in non-league football, however have rallied with new additions like Noor Husin and the appointment of Head Coach Kevin Maher who have propelled the Shrimpers to the safety of mid-table. Nathan Ferguson made the switch from Southend to the Stones in February and has been an instant hit in the Stones new look midfield and he'll be keen to put in a performance against his former employers.

TEAM NEWS

Jack Cook picked up a late knock in the Maidenhead game that put him out of the Stones' defeat to Chesterfield on the weekend, although he could be back in contention for the Easter schedule. Medy Elito recovered from injury too and returned in that fixture from the bench. Andrew Eleftheriou is a long-term absentee and Charlie Cooper is also a doubt after coming off injured against Bromley two weeks ago.

FORM GUIDE

Stones:

Chesterfield (H) 1-2 L (Umerah)

Maidenhead United (H) 0-0 D

FC Halifax Town (A) 2-0 L

Bromley (H) 1-1 D (Umerah)

Stockport County (A) 4-2 L (Cook, Henry)

Southend United:

Stockport County (A) 5-0 L

Notts County (H) 0-3 L

Yeovil Town (A) 2-0 L

Maidenhead United (A) 2-1 L (Clifford)

Altrincham (H) 2-0 W (Ralph, Dennis)

WHAT WAS SAID?

Stuart Maynard: "Until we're mathematically safe then we are still in there with a chance of going down, we've said it all along that the group won't be complacent you saw against Chesterfield the lads gave it absolutely everything, they probably came up just a little bit short but we had the chances.

"If I'm being honest we don't really look at the other results we're just solely focused on us game-by-game and don't look too far ahead. Me and Matty [Saunders] will prep for Southend now and not get too far ahead of ourselves.

"Southend have spent a lot of money in the window just gone to recruit and strengthen their squad with very good players like Harry Cardwell, Noor Husin and Matt Dennis and have put a lot of power and pace into their side. They're a really good team, they play 3-4-3 and are an attack minded side."

WHO TO WATCH FOR?

Noor Husin: Afghanistan international Husin joined the Shrimpers in January from National League South side Dartford and his addition to the side coincided with the clubs upturn in form at the start of the year. He scored his first goal for the side just three games in, in a 1-0 win over Dover Athletic. He has rarely missed a minute since joining and his performances have made him a popular addition with the home fans already.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Played - 2

Won - 0

Drawn - 1

Lost - 1

LAST TWO MEETINGS

Aug 2021 - Stones 0-0 Southend United

Nov 1979 - Stones 0-1 Southend United

Preview by Chris Woods