KEVAN Hurst feels he is currently enjoying the best form of his career but has no intention of leaving Southend United.

The winger bagged his eighth goal of the season in Friday night’s 1-1 draw against Rochdale at Roots Hall.

And the 28-year-old, whose current contract expires at the end of the season, then revealed he would jump at the chance to extend his stay with the Shrimpers.

“I’ve never been more settled in my career than I am at the moment,” said Hurst.

“My family are settled here, I’m not far from home either and I’m enjoying my football so I would definitely like to stay for longer.

“The stats would show I’m playing better than I ever have before but I want to keep that going now and I want to keep it going for Southend too.”

Blues boss Phil Brown revealed in Echosport last week how he wanted to soon start contract talks with his star performers.

And Hurst proved to be just that again on Friday night as he scored for the sixth time in eight games.

The winger blasted home a well struck shot to cancel out Jamie Allen’s opener and Hurst was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net.

“It was nice to get the goal but I’m not really worried who is scoring as long as we’re doing well,” said Hurst.

“I’m friends with the Rochdale goalkeeper Josh Lillis having played at Scunthorpe with him so it was nice to score and I also got to celebrate in front of my parents,” he said.

“They come down from Chesterfield for every game I play and I’m hugely appreciative of what they’ve done for me so it was great to be able to share the moment with them and the rest of the fans.”

The draw kept Blues seventh in the table and, according to Hurst, again also showed the fighting spirit of Phil Brown’s side.

“We have responded really well to going a goal behind on so many occasions this season and this game was no different which says a lot about the character in the team,” said Hurst.

“Rochdale are a good team and they came here to try and make it difficult for us.

“We didn’t start the game very well and they got on top and managed to get a goal in front but we came back to get a point and it’s important we push on from here now.”