SOUTHEND United winger Jermaine McGlashan will begin preparations for next season on his honeymoon.

The Shrimpers winger will marry his fiancee Leanne in Croydon tomorrow.

But the big day will not stop him being in shape for the start of the forthcoming campaign.

“I’m very excited about my wedding and I can’t wait for it but I’ll be waking up early in the morning on my honeymoon to train,” said McGlashan.

“I’m going to Dubai so it’s going to be very hot but that is only going to help with my fitness and I’ll be working hard in the gym to make sure I’m in good shape.

“I had been hoping to walk down the aisle with a play-off winning medal but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.

“Hopefully this year we’ll go up.”

Blues will be looking to improve on their seventh place finish next term.

And McGlashan will also be eager to shake off his super-sub tag.

The winger made 24 appearances from the Shrimpers bench during the previous campaign, more than any other member of Phil Brown’s squad.

But the 29-year-old is keen to figure from the start more often next term

“In terms of the squad it’s nice to be able to have an impact from the bench but I don’t think any individual wants to be a super-sub and I certainly want to be starting more next season,” said McGlashan.

“I never really seemed to be able to get a run of games last season and even ended up being suspended at one point after getting sent off which is really unusual for me.

“But I’ll be working really hard during pre-season to show what I can do because you always want to be starting games especially when you’re cracking on with your career.”

McGlashan - who signed for the Shrimpers in July after being released by Gillingham - made 14 starts for the club last season but failed to make the starting line-up more than four times in succession.

The winger’s chances of more starts have been boosted by Will Atkinson’s departure to Mansfield Town and Luke O’Neill’s release.

Blues are likely to recruit another right winger during the summer.

But McGlashan remains determined to prove his worth and help Blues secure a top six finish.

“I think after just missing out on the play-offs last season we will all be fired up to do well and I certainly will be,” said McGlashan.

“Getting off to a good start is going to be important because we didn’t do that last year and were always playing catch up after that.

“It wasn’t really until after the Rochdale game in October that we really got our system into place and started our season really.

“We certainly can’t afford for that to happen again next year and I’m confident it won’t because we’ll all be looking to carry on the form we showed for most of last season.”