MARK Molesley is certain Southend United can still stay up despite this afternoon’s 2-0 defeat to Carlisle United.

The setback kept the Shrimpers second from bottom in the League Two standings, five points from safety.

But Molesley feels Blues can work their way out of trouble in their remaining seven matches.

“We can absolutely stay up,” said Molesley.

“Today was a stark reminder that if we take our eye off any element of our game we will be hurt.

“It’s certainly a knockback but we aren’t out of anything.

“We will have to show a lot more than this but fortunately there’s another game on Tuesday now.

“We need a big reaction and we need it quickly too.”

Blues have now gone six home games without a goal but Carlisle had no such trouble hitting the back of the net.

“They got their goal with a great turn and finish and it shows the difference,” said Molesley.

“They’ve got players with quality who can produce a moment like that.

“We had a great chance to equalise and we didn’t take it.

“When you see a penalty missed it compounds that feeling but we can’t use that as an excuse."

However, Molesley did feel Blues were hit hard by losing two of their most experienced players. 

“Losing (Alan) McCormack didn’t help as well as losing John White last week," said Molesley.

"When moments in the game are getting frustrating and not quite going the way you’d like them, that’s when you want your older players out there to settle things down and make the right decisions at the right time.

"They can be a calming voice and drive people forward but we missed that today.

"We went a bit rudderless at times and we’ve got to make the most of our moments."