CIAN Bolger hopes to keep on proving people wrong when Southend United head to Exeter City tomorrow.

The Irish centre-back endured an indifferent start to his spell with the Shrimpers and was sent off twice in his first 13 starts.

But Bolger is now impressing at the heart of the back, helping Blues keep four clean sheets in succession.

And he now wants to continue his resurgence against the Grecians.

“I would like to think I’ve done well recently and I’m hopefully I’m proving a few people wrong now,” said the 23-year-old.

“I’ve always had confidence in my own ability. I had a bit of a blip but everyone goes through that with highs and lows in football.

“A lot of it was my own doing, getting sent off and I’ve held my hands up to that but hopefully I can show what I can do in the last few games.”

That quest will continue tomorrow as fifth placed Blues look to keep alive their hopes of automatic promotion with a win against Exeter.

The Grecians are 10th in the table and still have an outside chance of making the play-offs.

But Bolger is certain the Shrimpers will be able to come out on top.

“We’re confident going into every game and we’re confident of going anywhere in this league and winning too,” said the defender.

“I’m looking forward to it because it’s great to be back in the team after a frustrating couple of months.

“Hopefully we can get another good result because we certainly still believe we can make the top three.”

The Shrimpers are currently five points behind third placed Wycombe Wanderers with a game in hand.

But Phil Brown’s side are in fine form having won their last four games.

And Bolger has gone close to 300 minutes without a conceding a goal alongside the popular Adam Barrett at the back.

“It’s great playing alongside Adam and it’s really good for me,” said the defender.

“He’s a fans favourite and I enjoy playing next to him with his experience.

“The gaffer is big on keeping clean sheets here and we’ve all been defending well so hopefully we can keep it going.”

But Bolger has not been restricted to just defending as he also popped up to score his first goal for the club with a brilliant diving header against Newport County on Tuesday night.

“It was nice to get a goal but the clean sheet was the main thing for me really,” said Bolger.

“The manager wants us scoring from set pieces though so hopefully we can get a few more before the end of the season.”