AN afternoon of firsts saw Southend United get their season up and running with a share of the spoils at Solihull Moors on Saturday.

Summer signing Chris Wreh scored his first goal for the Shrimpers on his full debut and his effort was ultimately enough for Kevin Maher’s side to pick up their first point of the campaign in a testing contest.

Solihull – who reached the play-off final last season – are again expected to be push for promotion this time around.

And the hosts started well at the weekend with the dangerous Andrew Dallas firing them in front early on.

But Blues reacted strongly to the setback and produced a performance which offered real encouragement and optimism for the season ahead.

For me, the Shrimpers remain work in progress and you only have to look back at this fixture last season to remember just how far the club had fallen.

That clash will forever be firmly etched in the club’s history for all the wrong reasons as an already broken Blues plunged even deeper into despair.

Chairman Ron Martin bizarrely opted to head into the away end to confront away supporters chanting for his dismissal before angry fans also argued with then Blues boss Phil Brown and his assistant Craig Fagan behind the bench.

Seven days later, came even more anger and agony as the Shrimpers hit arguably their lowest ever ebb following a 4-0 defeat to Chesterfield at Roots Hall.

The match – which was halted by protesting supporters – proved to be Brown’s last in charge of Blues.

Back then, the Shrimpers were a toxic mess and, on the back of two successive relegations, they were in complete turmoil too.

National League South was a real possibility at that stage but, since then, Kevin Maher and those around him have worked tirelessly to turn things around.

As a result, Blues worked their way up to a 13th place finish last time around and expectations are high for the campaign ahead too.

That is understandable and should always be the case for Southend at this level.

But there must also be a sense of realism and the Shrimpers are still working towards the sustainable platform needed for success.

On the pitch, Blues will not be having things their own way either and that was again shown on Saturday as another stern test unfolded.

The Shrimpers dug deep to avoid defeat with Wreh taking his chance in more way than one.

A succession of injuries in attacking areas has led to Wreh being given opportunities to impress earlier than originally anticipated.

But his speed and strength caused all kinds of problems for Solihull and the early signs are certainly positive where the striker is concerned.

Callum Powell also looked lively in attack and, at the opposite end of the pitch, there was an encouraging debut for Jaden Crowhurst.

The youngster initially came through the youth ranks at Roots Hall as a midfielder but, in the past year, he has reverted to right-back and impressed throughout pre-season.

Given that, he could actually consider himself unlucky not to start against Boreham Wood on the opening day.

But an injury to Harry Taylor handed Crowhurst an opportunity to start and he did not disappoint.

Crowhurst did not look out of place and, just like Blues, will now be looking to build on a promising performance.

The next chance comes at Halifax Town on Tuesday night but the injury situation is now becoming far more of a concern.

Dan Mooney was not fit enough to start on Saturday while Tom Clifford had to be taken off with a suspected broken nose.

Subsequently, Maher could be missing as many as seven players at the Shay.

And reinforcements are urgently required if Blues are to be anywhere near being able to mount a challenge for a top seven finish this season.