ALAN McCormack is certain Southend United can still stay up this season.

The bottom of the table Shrimpers head to relegation rivals Stevenage tomorrow sitting eight points from safety.

But the fit-again McCormack feels Blues are capable of working their way out of trouble “We all still believe we’re good enough to pull ourselves out of this,” said the Irishman.

“It’s plain and obvious to see we’re bottom of the league and we are adrift at the moment.

“Every game is so important now and we have to treat every single one of them as a cup final.

“It will take a huge effort to win games but we’re not far away, even though results might say differently.”

And McCormack felt Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers perfectly proved his point.

“The score-line on Saturday says 3-0 but we just didn’t take our chances at the right time,” said McCormack.

“If we take our early chance I think we go on to win the game.

“It’s just around the corner for us really but the level of work-rate has to step up even more now.

“If we put the work rate in then talent wise we’re a talented bunch.

“It’s just about getting every aspect of the game combined within a 90 minute match and taking our chances.

“We’re obviously frustrated but we’re upbeat and still feeling confident.

“We all still believe we’re good enough to pull ourselves out of this.”

Blues will be aiming to show that at Stevenage this weekend.

And McCormack is looking forward to again being involved after recovering from a calf injury which kept him sidelined for two months.

“I’m delighted to be back,” said McCormack who has featured in Blues’ last two matches.

“It was frustrating to be out and there was no damage to the muscles that was keeping me out, it was just a tendon in the calf.

“It kept on getting angry and inflamed and we couldn’t pinpoint the reason for it.

“In the end we had a little injection to give it an extra boost.”

And that eventually enabled McCormack to make his return.

“We tried a few times but it was always the third day on the spin it wouldn’t like,” said the 36-year-old.

“It would come back on and shut me down for a few days.

“In the end the injection helped and I’m happy to be back.

“Just getting my match fitness is the most important thing now.

“I’m not a young pup anymore so I understand the values of rest.

“Of course you need training but it’s all about the games for me.

“I’ve got enough experience to know what I need to do to get through games.

“I just need to be on that pitch and be available for the manager.”

McCormack is hoping that will again be the case as Stevenage tomorrow as he faces a team managed by his former Blues team-mate Alex Revell who is rightly regarded as one of the nicest men in football.

“It's always the nice ones you have to be careful of,” laughed McCormack.

“Revs is an extremely, extremely nice guy off the pitch but not so much when you’re on it.

“The reason he played for so long at the level he did was because he had that streak about him.

“You need that in coach and management too and he’s worked extremely hard.

“He’s invested a lot of his own time and hopefully young managers like this get to stay in the game a lot longer because they deserve credit.”

But McCormack could well have ended up playing for Stevenage this term.

“I met him in the summer and we spoke about linking up together but things didn’t materialise that way,” added the midfielder.