SOUTHEND United fans are determined to get the Blues to Wembley after their team’s 3-1 loss at Morecambe this weekend.

The Blue Army travelled in their thousands to see the Southend side lose at the Globe Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Phil Brown’s side still stands a chance and will play Stevenage in the League Two play-offs with the first leg next weekend.

Paul Greenfield, 47, says he is optimistic the Blues will make it to Wembley. He travelled from his home in Northern Ireland to watch the crucial match.

He said: “It seems the fans turned up and the players didn’t.

It was a brilliant atmosphere and there were so many of us there, but on the way home it just felt like we should have been the ones celebrating.

“I think we will get to Wembley, I’m pretty optimistic and I’m already planning on coming back for the game. Nothing can stop me.”

The match attracted 2,223 fans who made the 600-mile round trip by car, coach, train and even a specially charted jet for the biggest game in five years which could have ended in victory and a return in League One.

Superfan Clare Chapman, 52, of Sydney Road, Leigh, had a Southend United-themed wedding after meeting her husband, Shane, at a game in Morecambe in 2011.

She said: “I’m bitterly disappointed.

“We were the better team, but we conceded three very sloppy goals.

“Why we’ve kept a clean sheet then this happen, I don’t know.

“We shouldn’t have been playing with two up front.

“It’s a real shame and we should have won.”

Echo:

21-year-old Alice Ross made the journey by car with her dad and brother just days after delivering specially-made cakes to the Blues at their training ground in a bid to spur them on to victory.

Alice, of Oaken Grange Drive, Southend, said: “No one could believe what they were seeing after the last seven games, with all the clean sheets. To concede three, I’m gutted.

“Travelling up it was a great atmosphere and we drove past loads of cars with Southend fans.

“We went down the seafront once we arrived and there were just Blues fans everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I’m sure we can do it against Stevenage. We have to remain positive.”

Blues will play Stevenage away on Sunday, May 10, at 6.35pm and at home on Thursday, May 14, at 7.45pm.

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