NEIL Harris wants to help Southend United get past Brentford tonight to set up a meeting with his former school-mate Frank Lampard in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Harris was the year above the Chelsea and England’s superstar midfielder at the Brentwood School.

And he would love the chance to share the same pitch of him once again.

“I knew Frank well at school and in my last year there we played in the same side,” said Harris.

“He was a cracking lad and player and has enjoyed a fantastic career.

“I haven’t spoken to him for quite some time and I’ve never played Chelsea before so it would be very nice to get through.

“But all that seems a million miles away at the moment because we have Brentford to contend with and they’re a very strong side.”

Harris looks set to be on the bench for this evening’s replay at Griffin Park.

However, the experienced striker is just delighted to be back in the squad after a frustrating four month spell out injured with a niggling knee problem.

The 35-year-old made his comeback as a late substitute at Exeter City on Saturday.

And he now wants to remain involved with the first team.

“It’s been horrible being injured because when the lads are winning you want to be out there with them enjoying it and when they are losing you want to be out there picking them up,” said Harris.

“I loved being involved again at the weekend but I would have swapped my appearance for a win or even a point at the weekend.”

Harris now wants to return to full fitness by playing for the reserves against Waltham Abbey in the Essex Senior Cup and he also hopes Blues can organise behind closed doors friendles for him to feature him.

But before then the forward is focused on trying to help the team get back to winning ways against Brentford.

“Experienced players like Chris Barker and I have been through spells like this hundreds of times before and it’s important we remain jovial and keep everyone’s spirits up,” said Harris.

“The main focus for us tonight is to get back to playing well and producing a good performance which we then hope will be good enough for us to get through.”