DEFEAT on Southend United’s last visit to Morecambe threatened to keep the Shrimpers in League Two.

But a similar outcome at the Globe Arena on Tuesday night could see Blues dropping out of it.

Back in 2015, Phil Brown’s side suffered a painful 3-1 defeat on the final day of the season to drop out of the automatic promotion places and into the play-offs.

The Shrimpers memorably bounced back from the disappointment to secure promotion in dramatic fashion against Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley.

But former Blues midfielder Michael Timlin, who played a pivotal part in that success, initially felt Southend had wasted their chance to go up.

“I remember driving home with my dad and my brother after the game thinking it was our opportunity gone,” said Timlin.

“We had so many fans there and the atmosphere was just incredible.

“But we warmed up right in front of them and maybe looking back at it now that could’ve been a bad thing.

“We didn’t it take it lightly but maybe we just thought it was going to happen and it was odds on for us to do it, especially with all that support.

“We probably never really understood that Morecambe were there to spoil it all. They were desperate to kill us and our party and they did.”

But defeat against Morecambe was nothing new for Blues who have never beaten the Shrimps in 11 League games between the two teams.

“We never got going that day but it was always like that for us against Morecambe,” said Timlin.

“I was always aware of how bad our record was against them but on that day I feel as though we got carried away by the occasion and what was at stake rather than focusing on the game itself.”

Blues head back to Morecambe this evening fighting to stay in the division.

And Timlin, who made 262 appearances for the Shrimpers before his departure in 2018, is sad to see Mark Molesley’s side struggling towards the foot of the League Two table.

“I’m incredibly sad to see what’s happened and it’s disappointing,” said Timlin.

“Maybe on one hand you could say it might be a blessing in disguise for the club to be able to start again from top from bottom.

“But the problem is the National League is a really, really hard league.

“I’ve experienced it now and there’s a reason why teams end up going down and getting swallowed up.

“At that level it really is more about the character than anything else.”

Blues were also relegated from League One last season and Timlin feels Southend are paying the price for making too many alterations in a short space of time.

“Every so often at clubs a change is needed but if I’m honest I think Southend tried to change too much too soon,” said Timlin.

“Southend became an easy place to go and it’s never been like that before.

“During my time we never wanted teams to be happy to come here and even when we didn’t play well we dug in and made it difficult.

“That’s been lost now and I think the determination and aggression side of things has been lacking too.

“The team has shown they can pick up results on their day but the consistency level is the problem.”

As a result, the Shrimpers sit second from bottom in the standings, six points from safety.

But Timlin wants Blues to keep fighting.

“You have to try and drag in as many teams as you can,” said Timlin.

“There’s still a lot to play for and if you give up on it then you might as well not even bother playing the games. You never know what can happen in football either, just look at what happened after that Morecambe match!”