ANTHONY Wordsworth believes Southend United have rediscovered their fighting spirit.

Wordsworth’s second half header handed Blues a deserved 1-1 draw at high-flying Bradford City on Tuesday night.

And the attacking midfielder is now keen to build on the impressive performance when the Shrimpers visit MK Dons this weekend.

“The performance and the result was massive for us at Bradford on Tuesday night but we need to go and do the same on Saturday now,” said Wordsworth, who has now scored three goals in six starts since recovering from a hamstring injury.

“MK Dons will be another really difficult game but we can go there feeling confident now.

“I thought it was all really positive at Bradford, especially the way we defended.

“Being honest I think we would have lost that game a couple of weeks go.

“But we have that fight and belief back now which makes a big difference.

“But we have to keep it going and maintain this level of performance to make sure we get more good results.”

Wordsworth will also be looking to continue his goalscoring form after netting the Shrimpers’ equaliser against Bradford.

The 27-year-old midfielder has impressed since coming back into the team.

But even he was surprised by the manner of his latest effort.

“I honestly can’t remember the last time I scored a header,” laughed Wordsworth.

“Will (Atkinson) flicked on a cross from Cokes (Ben Coker) I think it was and he’s trying to claim it was going in before I touched it!

“But I was pleased with it and it’s not a bad ratio for me at the moment.

“Scoring goals is what I aim to do and hopefully I can chip in with a few more.”

Wordsworth’s close range header secured a share of the spoils for the Shrimpers at second placed Bradford.

But the former Crawley Town loanee still feels Phil Brown’s side could have taken more from the game.

“I thought we could have won at Bradford and that shows how far we’ve come,” said Wordsworth.

“We showed good character to come back from their goal and when we equalised I thought we were going to go on and win it.

“Nile (Ranger) had a great chance towards the end and he will be disappointed he hasn’t put it in.

“If he does then we get all three points but we go again on Saturday now and we’re all really looking forward to it already.”

Blues remain 19th in the League One table, level on points with 16th placed MK Dons.

And Wordsworth believes Tuesday night’s result was a significant step forward for the Shrimpers.

“We had to make sure we came away with something from Bradford,” said the midfielder.

“Our away form had been poor.”