HARRY Cardwell will be looking to further improve the best season for a Southend United goalscorer in five years when he takes on Oldham Athletic this weekend.

Cardwell’s goal in the midweek win against Altrincham took his tally for the season to 14, making it the most prolific campaign for a Blues player since Simon Cox hit the back of the net 17 times during the 2018/19 season.

But Cardwell is not finished yet and heads into Saturday's clash at Boundary Park in a confident frame of mind after scoring in his last two games.

“It’s always nice to score as a striker as it’s part of the job description,” said Cardwell.

“I get a bit of stick from the lads because they’re all about three yards out but I’m happy to be back on the score-sheet.

“It had been a while without one since my injury so it’s been good and now my next target is to get to 15.”

But Cardwell knows it will be far from straight forward against Latics.

Micky Mellon’s side sit sixth in the National League standings and Cardwell is expecting an extremely difficult encounter.

“Oldham have a lot of quality players, a lot of experience and experience of getting out of this league too,” said Cardwell.

“It’s a tough place to go and they’re inside the play-offs right now but we’ll set out our game and go and attack it.”

Blues have risen to 13th in the table after winning three games in a row.

And Cardwell is keen to make the most of the momentum that has been generated.

“Things can change quickly but we have momentum and we want to use that to get another win on Saturday,” said Cardwell.

“We take it one game at a time but we’ve been doing well and it was really pleasing to win on Tuesday.

“It was important to back up the two previous wins with another one at home against a good team in the play-offs.

“To come back from a goal down was good and showed a lot of character which we’re going to need against Oldham as well.”

Blues showed great spirit to beat the Latics 4-0 on the opening day of the season.

But Cardwell knows that will have little bearing on Saturday’s match.

“It will be completely different to the first game of the season,” said the 27-year-old.

“It’s two completely different teams basically.

“They’ve invested in the team and we’ve had players come and go as well.”

Blues now have far more competition for places, especially in attack.

And Cardwell has welcomed the additional options in the final third.

"Competition for places is massive," said the striker.

"The manager has options now and he didn't have them at the start of the season," said Cardwell.

"It’s always nice to have players who can come in and share the load.

"It’s competitive up there and everyone wants to play."

Cardwell seems certain to keep his place in the line-up against the Latics and is enjoying now longer being restricted by a niggling knee injury.

"It feels good," said Cardwell.

"I don’t feel at it during games.

"It needs a bit of management through the week but it’s been good."