Southend United defender Tom Clifford looking to bounce back from painful start to season

Clifford lost his place in the side after suffering a broken nose in a 1-1 draw at Solihull Moors last month.

But the 23-year-old returned to the Shrimpers’ starting line up for Monday’s win against Maidenhead.

And the defender is delighted have returned to action.

“I was buzzing to be back in the starting line-up having missed a few games before that,” said Clifford.

“It’s never nice to just be watching from the sidelines but the nose is all good now.

“It’s certainly much better than it was a few weeks ago which is good.”

Clifford missed three games before returning against Maidenhead following an injury to Blues skipper Nathan Ralph.

And the defender is now determined to build on the victory, starting with Saturday’s clash against Torquay United at Roots Hall.

Doing well - Tom Clifford makes a goal-line clearance against Maidenhead

“It would be good to kick on from Monday following our performance and result but it will be tough because this league is a tough league,” said Clifford.

“Saturday will be another tough game but we’ll try and carry our performance over and do the right things.

“Hopefully we’ll get the result we want and build on Monday’s win.”

Blues thoroughly deserved the three points against Maidenhead.

And Clifford was pleased with the character on show just 48 hours after suffering a painful defeat at Eastleigh.

“Monday was a good game for us and I think we played well which was needed after the game on Saturday,” said Clifford.

“We didn’t dwell on the Saturday result though which is a good sign of character.”

Blues will now want to make that a sign of things to come and Clifford is keen to play a key part.

“Hopefully I can play as many games as I can and do what I can to help the team get the results we need,” he added.

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