SIMON Cox continued his new found free-scoring form to fire Southend United to a 2-0 win at Gillingham on Saturday.

Cox bagged both of Blues’ efforts at the Priestfield Stadium to take his tally to five goals in his last five games.

And the striker - who had previously scored six times in 29 outings - believes he is now being rewarded for getting into the right areas.

“I just have to make sure I get in the right positions and then it’s just about making sure you take the chances which thankfully I’m doing at the moment,” said Cox.

“The first one I got to start this run went in off my heel but I’ve carried it on since then.

“It’s nice to have got a brace and although I was looking for a third it didn’t come.”

Cox scored twice in the space of three second half minutes to secure a third successive away win for the Shrimpers.

And he was pleased to link up with the fit-again Dru Yearwood for both goals.

“I was saying to Dru before the game that I hadn’t scored when he had been on the pitch since coming back from his injury so it was nice to change that,” said Cox.

“For the first goal I was trying to find some space before shooting but it still seemed to take an age to go in.

“The second one was a great interception from Dru and a nice pass too so I was able to slot that one in.”

However, Cox was quick to praise all of the team’s efforts.

“We had two or three boys missing but those who came in did well and that bodes well for us,” said the 31-year-old.

“Hendo (Stephen Hendrie) was a plus at Colchester on Tuesday and he played really well to justify his place here.

“He coped really well again and this a big squad game.

“This is always a tough place to come and the conditions were horrible so we’ve done well.”

The victory made it five League games unbeaten for the Shrimpers who now sit ninth in the League One table.

And Cox is keen to keep the good run going against Coventry City at Roots Hall this weekend.

“We’ll go game by game and look to tick them off as they come,” said Cox.

“We’ll have another plan in place for Saturday’s game.”