HEAD coach Josh Ward expects Southend Saxon’s bid to beat the drop to go on until the final day of the season.

Second from bottom Southend, who head to third placed Tring in the London & SE Premier Division tomorrow, are currently 10 points from safety.

But Ward believes Southend can still work their way out of trouble.

“We’re only just entering February,” stressed Ward.

“Nobody has ever won leagues or been promoted in February and nobody has ever been relegated then either.

“We’ve had a very tough run of games and we have another one tomorrow but if you look at our run in I think all but one of them, Hertford, are against teams in the bottom half.

“Our last two games of the season are against Sidcup and Westcombe Park so I really do think it’s going to go right to the last day.

“But we can’t afford to be looking too far ahead and all we’re thinking about at the moment is Saturday’s game.”

Tring head into the clash in third place with just three defeats in their 18 games so far this season.

And, although Ward is fully aware of the size of the task facing Southend, he is keen for the team to produce another spirited performance.

“We want to build on the display we had against Guernsey last week,” said Ward.

“The first 40 minutes that day was excellent and we were beating the most consistent team in the league.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t keep it going for the full 80 minutes and that’s been a problem for us this season. But we’re looking forward to tomorrow and we’re excited by the challenge in front of us. We want to make sure it’s another good performance.”

Southend will again be without prop forward Todd Bailey and top try scorer Norbertas Radzevicius.

But Ward is happy to have young centre George Griffiths available again after he recovered from a hand problem.

“George linked up with Chris Vaughan against Guernsey last week and it’s was good to see him back because he’s a great kid,” said Ward.

“He got injured against Guernsey in his first game back against them too but he can play a few different positions so it’s a boost to have him back.”

Griffiths will be involved again tomorrow but Ward is still unsure who else might be available.

“We have a few people we need to assess before picking the team,” said Ward.

“But we also have others ready to step up if needed.”