County will be looking to put the disappointment of last weekend’s opening day defeat to Dagenham behind them on Saturday, as we take on recently relegated Southend United down at Roots Hall live on BT Sport.
Saturday’s home reversal against the Daggers was our third successive defeat on the opening day of the season, but Simon Rusk’s side will go into Saturday looking to continue a dominant recent record on the road, having won our last six games away from home in the National League, conceding just once.
After a miserable few seasons for Southend United recently, culminating in relegation from League Two with a game to spare last season, the Shrimpers fans finally had something to cheer last weekend after starting their season with a 1-0 win at King’s Lynn Town – former County loanee Sam Dalby scoring the winner just nine minutes in.
Please note that tickets in the away end for this game are now no longer able to be purchased online, and must be purchased on the day of the game from the Southend United Ticket Office.
Our Opponents:
Phil Brown’s Southend United are back in non-league football for the first time since 1920 after a turbulent two years at Roots Hall that has seen the side suffer back-to-back relegations, winning just 14 out of 81 league games in the process.
When the Covid pandemic cut the Football League season short back in March 2020, Southend sat a daunting 17 points from safety under Sol Campbell, above only Bolton Wanderers in the table with 11 games left to play, and were subsequently relegated on points per game.
That Summer, the Club moved to appoint Weymouth boss Mark Molesley as their new first-team manager, after he guided the Terras to successive promotions up to the National League, with the 40-year-old tasked with arresting the decline at the club amidst financial problems.
The former Bournemouth midfielder was handed a difficult start however, as the side remained under a transfer embargo until October, and subsequently picked up just two points from their opening 11 games of the season.
Despite a mini-revival around Christmas time sparking hope of survival for another season, Molesley’s men remained rooted in the relegation zone, with the manager relieved of his duties with the side five points from safety with six games remaining.
Former Hull City boss Phil Brown was brought in as his replacement, but was unable to pull off a great escape as despite claiming victories over Leyton Orient and Barrow, the side were relegated with a game to spare, bringing to an end a 101 year stay in the EFL.
Despite that, Brown has stayed on over the Summer and overseen something of a squad overhaul so far with ten new additions, seven of which made their debut in last weekend’s win at King’s Lynn, including match winner Dalby.
Goalkeeper Steve Arnold has joined from Northampton, defender Josh Coulson has made the move from Leyton Orient, whilst they have plenty of firepower up front with the addition of striker Rhys Murphy from Yeovil Town. The former Arsenal youth product scored 13 league goals for the Glovers last season, and 17 the year before that.
They made another new addition in the week as midfielder Will Atkinson returned to the Club after leaving Alfreton Town. The 32-year-old previously had a four year spell at Roots Hall between 2013 and 2017, making 173 appearances for the Essex side.
Match Stats:
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides since an FA Cup tie in 2012, which Southend won 3-0. In 29 previous meetings, Southend have the historical edge with 11 wins to our nine.
- Southend were the third-lowest scorers in the top five divisions of English football last season, scoring just 29 goals in their 46 league games. Only Sheffield United (20) and Fulham (27) scored fewer.
- County had the best away record in the National League last season, picking up 42 points from 21 games. We had the best offensive and defensive record in the league on our travels, and have won seven and drawn one of our last eight away games.
