SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley is preparing himself for a ‘surreal’ showdown with Paul Scholes.

The Manchester United legend is currently caretaker manager of Salford City who host the Shrimpers tomorrow night.

But Molesley’s main focus remains on the match.

“It will be a little bit surreal to begin with to turn round and see him standing on the sidelines because we’re all big fans of him but I’ll just be fully focused on our job and what we’re doing,” said Molesley.

“Salford are very well run by some very, very good footballers in their time.

“They were some of the world’s best in their time and they’re going to be well put together.”

Salford slipped to 11th in the League Two standings following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Port Vale.

And Molesley feels Scholes’ side will provide another stern test for the Shrimpers.

“We always give the upmost respect to the team we’re playing against,” said Molesley.

“Salford are a top side and they’re tipped to do very well.

“They’re a well educated group and they’ve started the season well so they will be a tough challenge for us.

“We’ve got to deal with their threats but off the back off Saturday we’ve got to make sure we impact our game more, whether we’re home or away, We have to put our game onto them.

The Shrimpers were beaten 2-0 by Cheltenham Town on Saturday.