SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher faces a striker dilemma for tomorrow’s clash at York City.

Callum Powell and Chris Wreh both netted in Tuesday night’s 3-0 win at Maidstone United, a match in-form Jake Hyde missed due to it being played on an artificial pitch.

And Maher must now decide who to start in attack this weekend.

“We’ve got decent options and we’ve got ones coming back too with Cards (Harry Cardwell) and Murph (Rhys Murphy) as well who was on the bench the other night,” said Maher.

“We’ve got a couple to pick from and we’ll look at York as well and decide from there.”

Blues make their first ever visit to LNER Community Stadium on the back of two 3-0 victories.

And Maher admits his side are heading into Saturday’s clash in a confident frame of mind.

“The performances have been good in the last couple of games and the results have backed them up too which is important,” said Maher.

“We’re going there with confidence on Saturday but knowing what a tough game we will have there.”

Blues are now unbeaten in seven National League games and have worked their way up to eighth in the standings, level on points with ninth placed York.

And Maher is expecting another testing afternoon against the Minstermen.

“They’ve got some good players so it’s a tough place to go,” said the Shrimpers boss.

“They got a decent point against a good Chesterfield side the other night so we know they’ve got their threats. We will have to perform well there to come away with anything.”

Victory could push either side into the play-off places. But Maher does not feel that will mean too much at this stage of the season.

“We’re not looking too far ahead or looking at the play-off places at the moment either,” said Maher.

“There’s a long way to go in the league and a lot of tough games. We’re focusing on getting the performance right and hitting the levels we want to hit and see where that takes us.”

Blues will again be looking to be solid at the back and currently boast the best defensive record in the division having conceded just 11 goals in 15 games.

Goalkeeper Collin Andeng Ndi has now secured five clean sheets in his last six games.

And, despite being pleased with the young shot-stopper, Maher also stressed it had been a team effort.

“Collin is young but he’s very composed in how he goes about his business,” said Maher.

“But credit to the players in front of him as well.

“Right throughout the team we ask everyone to do a shift when they haven’t got the ball and likewise when we’re attacking so it’s a team effort. We’ve done OK but we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves and there’s a long way to go.

“We have to keep the standards high and see where that takes us.”

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