SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher wants a strong reaction from his Shrimpers side at Aldershot Town tomorrow.
Blues suffered their first National League defeat since mid-September on Saturday, losing 3-1 at Gateshead.
But Maher is now demanding an improved display at the EBB Stadium.
“It’s about putting things right,” said the Shrimpers boss.
“We’ve reviewed and reflected upon Saturday’s game and we want a better performance at Aldershot now.
“There will be bumps in the road but you have to regroup and good teams don’t let that happen again.”
Blues had gone 11 league games without defeat before losing at Gateshead.
And Maher is keeping calm as the Shrimpers bid to bounce back.
“There’s no need to panic,” said Maher.
“We’re fifth in the league with a young team who will continue to learn and we have the best defensive record in the league.
“We’re doing plenty right and there’s not too much to worry about.
“At the start of the season when we were in a position we wanted to be better we looked at all of the stats and knew things would turn if we kept on doing what we believe in.
“That won’t change and we wouldn’t be talking as much about the defeat if we hadn’t gone 11 games unbeaten.”
And Maher also feels the reaction to the defeat shows how much progress has been made since his appointment last October.
“It seems to be all we’ve spoken about all week so maybe the standards are going through the roof now because before we came in the stats of number of wins per year were incredible,” said Maher.
“To be disappointed to lose one game shows how far the standards have risen.
“We’ve heard a lot about it this week but don’t forget how far we’ve come.”
Blues will again be looking to show that on Saturday.
But Maher is expecting a difficult game against the 18th placed Shots who are currently being managed by interim boss Ross McNeilly following the dismissal of former Shrimpers chief Mark Molesley.
“It’s a tough one,” said Maher.
“They went to Wrexham and although they lost 2-0 they put up a good fight.
“They’ve chopped and changed a bit and whether a new manager will come in before the game I don’t know.
“They’ve changed shape a few times but we’ve got to be ready and focus on ourselves.
"First and foremost it’s about getting the performance and getting that right.”
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