SOUTHEND United will be fighting fit for this Saturday’s crunch clash at Morecambe, thanks to the excellent work of their fitness team throughout the season.

Led by head strength and conditioning coach Mark Williams, the Shrimpers players have been worked hard to remain in peak condition.

And Williams believes Blues are now reaping the rewards of the quality training carried out at the start of the new year.

“Through the season we look at windows of opportunity to load the players with increased training volumes,” said the Rayleigh based 32-year-old.

“It is a case of choosing the appropriate times to push and back off the training so to optimise performances throughout the season.

“This season we pushed the players pretty hard in January and February so that the effects would be realised as we entered the latter stages of the season.”

That certainly seems to have been the case too as the Shrimpers have shown fantastic energy levels in recent weeks to record seven successive victories.

But it is not just Blues who have been enjoying the benefits of Williams’ work as he also works closely with Southend Saxons, where he also enjoyed a successful spell as a player.

“I enjoy the work I do with the clubs and being involved with sport,” said Williams, a former first team captain at the club.

“Strength and conditioning programmes play an important part because they make players more robust so that they can be less at risk of injury.

“It also enhances their fitness levels so that their performance can improve.”

Williams first discovered the importance of strength and conditioning work when lining up for Bracknell where he played when finishing his undergraduate degree in sports science.

On top of that, he now holds a masters degree in strength and conditioning and enjoys a busy schedule due to also working with the successful sports teams at Thundersley’s Seevic College.

“It's pretty hectic to say the least,” laughed Williams.

“I work at the football club for the main training days of the week - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Luke Hart, my assistant is there at all times.

“Monday afternoon I am with the Seevic Academy squads including rugby, netball, and basketball and I work with them on a Friday too.

“Being semi-professional, the rugby club train on a Tuesday and Thursday so I'm generally there on a Tuesday evening for the main training session of the week.

“On a Saturday I rotate between being at football and rugby games so that I can see how the teams are performing but it’s all very busy.

“I also offer strength and conditioning consultancy to young athletes through my company MatchFit Youth Strength and Conditioning so it’s quite full on during the season but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Williams has now been working with Seevic for close to 10 years and at the football club since 2011.

His has also stepped up his involvement at the rugby club in the past two seasons and admits the work can be quite varied depending on the sport.

“For the young athletes I work with there are a lot of similarities in the training content but with the football and rugby clubs there are definite differences,” said Williams.

“My training philosophy is probably fairly obvious in both but perhaps the biggest difference would be the amount of aerobic training that football players require versus rugby.

“But in the last decade there seems to have been huge advances in strength and conditioning as an industry and people can differently see the value of it now, whatever sport they’re in.”