Southend host struggling Bournemouth at Warners Bridge tomorrow, with centre Sam Nash insisting there is still plenty for them to play for this season.

The Seasiders are currently eighth in the National Two South standings with just four games to go.

But Nash insists the team are fired up to make sure they end the campaign with a run of positive results.

“I know not being in the hunt for promotion can sometimes affect a team’s morale, but we are hungrier than ever to finish the season on a strong note,” said Nash.

“We want to pick up as many points as we can and our goal is to finish within the top six, so it’s a must win for us tomorrow really.

“We were lucky in our last game against Bournemouth and came away with a last minute win so we know they’re a strong side.

“But we are a much better and more confident side now and are expecting nothing less than a win in front of a big home crowd “And we also want that to happen so we can start building some momentum for next season as well.”

Southend sit six points behind six-placed Taunton Tigers who they lost to 22-18 at the weekend.

The Seasiders were unable to turn their periods of pressure in to enough points during the second and the defeat is still hurting Nash.

“It was a very frustrating loss for us on Saturday to be honest,” said Nash.

“Taunton are a strong team with an excellent home record but we were the better team in the second half and had ample opportunities to win the game and blew a few chances to score.

“We again suffered a slow start to the game, not scoring enough points despite having the strong wind on our backs.

“But there was a great response from the boys and we played some great rugby in the second half which is what we want to build on tomorrow.”

Southend will be also be confident of winning as Bournemouth are second from bottom in the table.

However, the Seasiders’ director of rugby Chris Green believes they will be difficult opponents.

“Bournemouth might well be going down but they have picked up a little bit lately and will be very tough to play against,” said Green.

“They are fighting for their lives and have won three of their last five games so their recent form is actually pretty good.”