SOUTHEND United striker Joe Pigott continued his recent resurgence to secure the Shrimpers a 1-0 win against Port Vale on Saturday.

The on loan Charlton Athletic front-man bagged the only goal of the game at Roots Hall to make it five efforts in his last four outings.

And in many ways Pigott’s season so far epitomises that of Southend as well.

The forward initially struggled to get to grips with life in League One and failed to score in his opening nine games of the new campaign.

But, right now, there is no stopping the striker and he produced his best display of the season so far to help the Shrimpers come out on top at the weekend.

Phil Brown’s side have mirrored that pattern too after also starting off slowly.

Following on from last season’s promotion, Blues failed to win any of their opening six matches and also failed to score in four of their first five outings.

However, just like Pigott, things are now starting to go their way and the Shrimpers have emerged successful from six of their last eight encounters.

There have been plenty of factors behind that turnaround in fortune, including it seems more belief in the players.

At the start of the campaign, many of them were entering the unknown and could have maybe doubted whether or not they have what it to takes to come to terms with playing at a higher level.

But the Shrimpers have started to show they are more than capable of matching the top teams in League One and there is clearly far more confidence in the team now.

More consistency in the team selection has also helped, along with more attacking intent.

Blues have often been guilty of setting out not to lose a match rather than being on the front foot trying to force a victory.

However, that was not the case on Saturday as they regularly pushed forward during a feisty encounter which was also the most entertaining at home this season.

Pigott’s predatory instincts ultimately led to the Shrimpers coming out on top but his strike partner Myles Weston was also influential in the victory.

Weston may struggle for consistency and his finishing can sometimes be quite erratic but what he does possess in abundance is pace.

Without him, Blues can often be quite one paced but Weston’s sprinting ability enables the game to become far more stretched and also makes Southend far more difficult to play against.

Being critical, Weston should have scored at the weekend and Blues could also have netted more than just once.

That area of the pitch will still ultimately decide Southend’s destiny this season and determine whether or not they can remain in the race for the play-offs.

But right now everything seems positive with Pigott taking centre stage to help the Shrimpers surge up to seventh in the League One standings.

Blues will want to maintain that momentum and they will certainly not want to be suffering any serious setbacks.

As a result, they will be sweating on the fitness of influential midfielder Michael Timlin who could have suffered a broken rib during Saturday’s win.

Furthermore, the Shrimpers will also be hoping speculation linking boss Brown with a switch to Sunderland soon starts to die down as a push for a second successive promotion is now starting to gather pace.

But all the noises coming out of Roots Hall seem to suggest Brown will be staying with Blues.

And, such was the manner of Saturday’s success, you sense there could well be plenty more for him to look forward to here as well.