Southend United midfielder Sam Mantom bidding to avoid more pain at Bristol Rovers

Blues head to the Memorial Stadium desperate to bounce back from Tuesday night’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Luton Town.

And Mantom will also be eager to triumph after a painful and premature conclusion to his previous meeting with the Pirates on the final day of last season when he was caught by a poorly timed Ollie Clarke challenge which resulted in his rival midfielder being sent off.

“I’ve still got the scar and the little dimple on my ankle where the scar tissue came across it, it wasn’t a good way to end the season and I’m sure I won’t forget it,” said Mantom.

“I ended the season and my loan spell at Southend with that injury and when I went back to Scunthorpe, who were in the play-offs, I couldn’t train for two or three weeks because of it.

“But this is another big game for us because we need to pick up some points.”

After recovering from the injury, Mantom joined the Shrimpers on a permanent basis in the summer and could well face Clarke again this weekend.

However, Mantom’s main focus will be on helping Blues recover from losing at Luton.

“We had a game plan but when you concede after a minute and 30 seconds it’s blown out of the water,” said the midfielder.

“You’re chasing for the rest of the game and you’re on the back foot.

“After that, Luton got a really soft penalty but that’s the referee and when you go to a place like that he’s always going to give it.

“It was naïve on our part but we’ll learn from it.”

Blues have now picked up four points from their opening four games of the League One season.

But Mantom is determined to add to that tally this weekend and push towards the top of the table.

“Our main aim is promotion and that’s where we want to be,” said the 26-year-old.

“We want to get momentum going and if we do we’ll be up there. But you get nothing given to you in this league.

“You have to fight and scrap for 90 minutes and we’ll definitely have to do that on Saturday.”