HARRISON Neal is confident Southend United will soon start to move further away from the National League drop zone.

Neal helped the Shrimpers win 1-0 at Weymouth on Saturday in his first game since signing on loan from Sheffield United.

And the midfielder feels Kevin Maher’s side are more than capable of building on the victory.

“I’d watched games before coming here as well and we’ve more than enough to stretch the gap between ourselves and the drop zone,” said Neal.

“This was a good win for us.

“We dug in and think we could’ve had more goals.

“I can’t really remember them testing us and I thought we saw it out well.

"The back three were excellent and it was a good start for me.”

Neal slotted into a central midfield role.

But he felt he was hindered by being shown a yellow card midway through the first half.

“I enjoyed it but I think the early booking killed me a bit,” said Neal.

“I had to be more stand offish after that but overall I thought I did alright.

“I want to get as many games and points as possible here but everything I’ve seen so far has been positive and hopefully that carries on.”

Neal, who had been on loan with National League North side Kettering during the first half of the season, has now set his sights on Tuesday night’s clash with Yeovil Town at Roots Hall.

And he has already noticed a step up in standard.

“It’s quicker and you get less time on the ball but I can’t wait for Tuesday now,” said Neal.

“We’ve won here so now I want to get back out there and play straight away as quickly as we can.”