SOUTHEND United striker Nile Ranger heads to AFC Wimbledon this weekend looking to secure the best scoring run of his career.

The 25-year-old striker has scored three goals in his last four games to equal a sequence he last set in 2013 when playing for Swindon Town.

But another effort this weekend would see Ranger enjoying his best ever run in front of goal.

And he will go into the game boosted by a better sleeping pattern after netting his first home goal for the Shrimpers in last Saturday’s 3-2 win against Walsall.

“I was starting to get so worried about not scoring in a home game that I wasn’t able to get much sleep so it was a great feeling to get one at the weekend,” said the 25-year-old.

“I had been scoring a few away from home but not so many of the fans get to go to those games so I really wanted to get one at Roots Hall.

“Thankfully I’ve done that now and I’m pleased to be scoring more regularly.

“I will always put helping the team get points ahead of scoring goals but when you see the ball go in it’s a feeling that puts you on a different level so it’s always nice and it would be great to get a few more if possible.”

Ranger has now hit the back of the net six times this season and was delighted to help the Shrimpers fight back from 2-0 to see off Walsall 3-2 last weekend.

“When we were 2-0 down I was thinking oh my days,” said Ranger.

“But like I’ve said before, we’re like brothers here and we all stayed together to get back in the game.

“The manager also knows what he’s doing and made some changes which really helped us get the result.

“The fans were brilliant too and the way they got behind us really did make a difference.

“They were like a 12th man for us out there.”

Blues’ fans have also snapped up all 700 tickets for tomorrow’s game and Ranger is keen to keep the sixth placed Shrimpers in the play-off places with a third successive victory.

However he believes AFC Wimbledon, who are currently 13th in the table, will be tough to see off this weekend.

“Wimbledon have got some good results at home and I’m expecting it to be a difficult game there,” said Ranger.

“They are mid-table at the moment and we definitely can’t afford to underestimate them.

“They probably don’t really have to much to play for, similar to Coventry, and hopefully we can go and get a similar result to the one we got against them.”