SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher has urged his side to keep their belief ahead of Saturday's clash with Aldershot Town at Roots Hall.

The Shrimpers go into the game having been beaten in their last four outings.

But, despite the defeats, Maher feels there is not a lot wrong with Blues and wants that to soon result in them getting back on track.

“I’m not naïve, I know it’s always about results and we’ve got to add points,” said Maher.

“We went through a difficult period earlier in the season but we knew the things we were doing were right and we still believe that now.

“There’s not a whole lot wrong.

“I know we’ve lost games but they’ve been tight.

“It’s fine margins and just because the results haven’t gone our way it doesn’t mean we don’t look at what we’ve done right.

“We’ve got to keep that belief.

“The players have trained well and we look forward to Saturday.”

The Shrimpers were beaten 1-0 at Boreham Wood last time out.

But, having watched the game back, Maher still felt there were plenty of positives.

“We lost in a game we felt we played well in for large parts,” said the Blues boss.

“We had our chances and if we take one of them it’s a different game.

“The performance was good and we’re a penalty kick away from getting a good point away from home against a play-off rival.”

Blues now sit ninth in the table, seven points below the play-off places.

And Maher is predicting another tough test against Aldershot tomorrow despite Ross McNeilly’s side having fallen to 17th in the standings after going seven games without a win.

“It’ will be a tough one,” said the Shrimpers chief.

“We had a disappointing result at their place in a period where we lost a couple of games.

“It’s a tough challenge and anyone coming to Roots Hall makes it difficult for us.

“They might have been on a difficult run lately but in this league it’s about who turns up on the day.

“You’ve got to perform to your limits and hopefully if you keep doing that results will come our way.”

Blues have been frustrated by controversial decisions going against them in their last two games.

But Maher wants the Shrimpers to do more to ensure the officials do not exert so much influence on the game.

“It’s frustrating and they’re big decisions but I want to take that out of the equation,” said Maher.

“We need to be so good the decisions don’t matter. That’s something we’ve got to do going forward.

“Apologies don’t get us anywhere, we’ve got to win football matches.”

And Maher is also keen to make that happen for the club’s loyal supporters.

“The numbers we took to Wrexham and Boreham Wood were unbelievable and the noise they made was incredible too,” said Maher.

“It’s nice to be back at home and hopefully we’ll be in front of another big crowd.

“We want to get points for them because they’ve been right behind us all season.

“We need that support, we’ve got 10 games to go and there’s a lot of points still to play for.”

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