SOUTHEND United Ladies team will line up in their first ever cup final this weekend.

The Shrimpers take on Toby FC in the Essex Women’s Trophy at Great Wakering Rovers’ Burroughs Park ground.

And Blues’ first team coach April Smith cannot wait for kick-off.

“It’s a taken a while but we finally have a cup final,” said Smith.

“We did have one at under 18 level but this is our first one as a ladies team so it’s really important for us to have support.

“We see it as one club. That’s the men’s team, the ladies team and the community things we do as well.

“We do have a few regular fans now and it would be nice to see more at the cup final on Sunday.”

Southend are currently enjoying a season to remember and will head into Sunday’s clash having not been beaten since October.

Blues are fourth in the Essex County Women’s League Premier Division with two games in hand on table-topping Stanway Pegasus who are five points above them.

But, despite the good run of results, Smith is expecting a stern test against Toby who top the division below having won all 10 of their league games.

“It won’t be easy and we’ve had a few run ins with them before,” said Smith.

“They’re winning most of their games quite easily as they have our league’s quality of players.

“It will be a tough test but we have the quality to win it if we perform at our best.”

That quality has shown more the season has progressed after a number of new players signed last summer.

“It’s been an interesting season,” said Smith.

“We had a lot of players come in during pre-season.

“It must have been about 14 players coming in so we knew we had a lot of work to do.

“It took a few weeks to realise the full potential of some of them and we were shocked by the quality.

“We knew it would click at some point and it’s just gone from strength to strength.

“We’ve got better and better the more the season has gone on.

“There’s a real desire in the squad to want to win and that comes from them.”

Manager Lewis Dodds - who has been in charge since 2018 - has also played a big part in Blues’ form this season.

And he feels big strides have been made since the end of the previous campaign.

“There’s been a massive improvement since last season,” said Dodds.

“We haven’t been beaten since October, we’re doing well in the league with games in hand, we’ve got the cup final and a league cup semi-final coming up too so it’s a definite improvement on last season.”

Blues finished fifth in the table last term but now have far more strength in depth.

“We had a few injuries and holidays last season and even had to give up a cup semi-final when we didn’t have enough players,” said Dodds.

“The target this year was to expand the squad and create a team who could win the league. The squad has really gelled together for the first time in six years and it’s a close knit group too.”

Sunday’s match kicks off at 2.30pm with adult tickets priced at £5.

Get more great stories by Chris Phillips delivered to your inbox every day by signing up to our regular newsletter here