SOUTHEND United defender Nathan Ralph is pleased to finally be focusing on football after an eventful pre-season for the Shrimpers.

Blues have battled through financial issues to be able to kick off the National League campaign against Oldham Athletic at Roots Hall tomorrow.

And Shrimpers skipper Ralph cannot wait for the season to start.

“It gives you something to look forward to and focus on,” said Ralph.

“It takes your mind off things elsewhere and hopefully they get sorted out.

“The situation is far from ideal but when we come into the building it’s all been pretty professional and that’s credit to the manager and the staff.

“You know the start of the season is coming so you have to put things in place the best you can and turn the negative into a positive.”

Blues have been able to play just two warm up matches in public due to a lack of available players and are still only able to register a squad of 16 due to the club’s transfer embargo.

The players also stopped training together for a week as they waited for their wages.

But all attention is now on this weekend’s clash.

“We’ve put things in to place this week and we’re looking forward to starting the season here,” said Ralph.

“Over the last week it’s all been about Saturday and playing Oldham.

“It’s nice to get our heads on that and now we want to get off to a good start.

“Our squad is small but the players we do have we back ourselves against anyone so we’re looking forward to the game.”

And Ralph is also pleased to be playing his part.

“I always wanted to stay and I never wanted to leave because it’s a club I’m close with,” said Ralph.

“There have been tough times recently but you still see how much it means to people so I’m glad we’ve managed to find away of doing it.

“I believe in the process here and I want to be a part of things moving forward.”

Ralph has been with Blues since 2019 and is still keen to reward the backing of the supporters.

“I think they’re the best fans in the league,” said Ralph.

“Things like Sunday when they cleaned the ground show how much they care and how much it means to them.

“It shows how much they’re behind us and hopefully we can all come together and be as successful as possible this season.

“The fans have been without football here for a while so it’s nice to be at home on the opening day too.

“We obviously weren’t sure where it was going to be played so it’s good for the fans to come out and we want to get a good result for them.”

And Ralph is also fit to feature after recovering from the broken nose he suffered at the end of last season.

“It’s all good now,” said the 30-year-old.

“It was hard breathing at the time but it’s all been sorted and it’s fine.”