SOUTHEND United’s John White feels he should no longer be considered as a makeshift centre-back.

White - who will return to the Shrimpers starting line-up at Wigan Athletic tomorrow - had previously spent most of his career playing right-back before the start of this season.

But all of White’s eight starts have come at the heart of the back four this term and the 31-year-old now considers that to be his main position.

“I look at things the other way round now and I think I’m a centre-back who may have to fill in by playing in other positions,” said White.

“I enjoy playing there and I think it brings out the best in my game, which is the defensive side.

“It also allows me to do what I need to do to stay in the side.”

Moving into the middle has also enabled White to feature more regularly for the Shrimpers this season and the defender has already made 11 appearances this term, just six games shy of his total from the whole of the previous campaign.

White’s next appearance will come against Wigan tomorrow in a game he believes could see him lining up alongside the fit-again Michael Turner, who has yet to feature this season after suffering a hamstring problem in July.

“Turns has been on the training ground all week and is looking very positive for the weekend, so there’s a good chance it will be him I partner,” said White.

“He will bring in a lot of experience and he’s played a lot of games at a higher level.

“We’ll need every bit of that experience to get us through the game.”

Blues head into the clash sitting 15th in the League One table, looking to bounce back from Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers.

And White feels the Shrimpers will need to get back to their best to avoid another setback on Saturday.

“We’re good at pressing the ball and stopping teams doing what they want to do and we have to get back to that this weekend,” said White.

“There’s the game management side of things as well.

“You have to stop the other team’s flow and momentum anyway you can and we need to do that.

“We have to put our stamp on the game and do whatever it takes really.

“But it’s definitely not about us just sitting back and soaking up pressure against Wigan.

“We have to be doing more than that.”

Wigan - who were relegated from the Championship last season - head into tomorrow’s game at the DW Stadium sitting second in the standings.