SOUTHEND United goalkeeper Steve Arnold felt Saturday’s 2-1 win at Altrincham was a ‘massive relief’ for the Shrimpers.

Blues’ victory ended a run of three successive defeats for Kevin Maher’s side.

And Arnold was delighted to pick up the three points.

“It’s a massive relief,” said the shot-stopper.

“They say winning is a habit but I think losing can become a habit too so to win like that, in those circumstances, grinding it out was what we needed.

“We showed a little bit of grit and we’re really happy with the win.”

Blues led 2-0 at the break but were forced to dig in after the break as Altrincham began to get on top.

But Arnold played a key part in keeping the Shrimpers in front and produced a stunning save to keep out a penalty from Ryan Colclough.

“You want to save it but deep down I feel the striker should always score from that position,” said Arnold.

“I always back myself to save it and full credit to Reece (Ottley).

“We always go through penalties before the game.

“He tells me what to do and I try my best to do it!”

However, it was not just the penalty save was not Arnold’s only positive contribution.

And the 32-year-old feels he is close to hitting top form.

“I like it here, I like the way it is and I feel like I’m playing towards my best,” said the summer signing.

“In the last two or three years I’ve had some stupid little injuries and touch wood I’ve only had one or two niggles here,” said Arnold.

“I feel like I’m finding my best form and full credit to the gaffer and the goalkeeping coach for looking after me and getting me going.”

Arnold was certainly impressive at the weekend but he felt the whole team was instrumental in the win.

“Everyone stuck to the game plan, we went back to basics and were solid throughout,” said Arnold.

“Everyone worked their socks off in horrible conditions.

“The wind was ridiculous in the first half and it wasn’t pretty.

“But for us to doesn’t matter how we win as long as we get the points on board.”

And Arnold is now keen for that to keep on happening.

“We need to kick on,” said Arnold.

“We need three or four wins and it doesn’t matter how we get them, we just need to build a base.

“We get our identity from there but first things first we build on and win our next game now.”