Southend skipper admits: we're in a relegation battle now (From Echo)

Southend skipper admits: we're in a relegation battle now

SOUTHEND United skipper Adam Barrett believes the Shrimpers are now in a fight against relegation.

Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat at Millwall was his side’s fourth reverse in six games.

And Barrett is fully aware of the seriousness of the situation.

“Things are tough for us at the moment and I think we’re in a relegation fight to be honest,” said Barrett, 30.

“The league is very close and a lot teams in the bottom of the table are in a similar situation but we need to start picking up points.

“It’s not easy because we’ve lost a lot of goals with Lee Barnard leaving and we’re having to throw people in.

“We’re plugging holes and I think it’s time for us to develop a bit of siege mentality.

“We have to get a bit uglier and grind out some results. It doesn’t matter how we play we just need to make sure we get some points because we don’t want to get dragged down the table even further.”

Blues are currently 16th in the League One standings, four points above the relegation zone.

Five of the eight teams below Southend also have games in hand. But Barrett is confident the Shrimpers will not be playing in League Two next season.

“We have enough quality in our team to get out of trouble,” said the centre-back.

“There is also a lot of football still to be played as we have 19 games left and it’s still very tight.

“We could go back into the top half of the table if we beat Swindon on Saturday and that would certainly give us all a lift.”

Beating Swindon at Roots Hall will not be easy though as the Robins are enjoying a fantastic season.

Danny Wilson’s side are fifth in the table and saw off Leeds United 3-0 on Tuesday night.

But Barrett is keen to cause an upset.

“We’re at home and we feel we can beat anyone there on our day,” said Barrett. “Swindon are having a very good season but we will work as hard as we can to get some points against them.”

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