ANTON Ferdinand is convinced Southend United have the character to get their season back on track.

The Shrimpers head into Satiurday's clash with Fleetwood Town on the back of seven defeats in their last eight games.

But Blues captain Ferdinand believes Phil Brown’s side, who have slipped to 17th in the League One standings, have what it takes to work their way back up the table.

“The faith and belief I have in this squad, the manager and the coaching staff at this club is second to none and the reason why I re-signed at this place,” said the 32-year-old.

“No-one is more frustrated than the lads and the manager at the moment.

“We know the fans are frustrated but stick with us and, with the belief and quality we have, we’ll be fine.

“If you look at the table it speaks for itself right now but if we win three games on the bounce we would be a couple of points off the play-offs because it’s that tight.

“We need to look at the positives and look up the table, not down it.”

But Blues’ recent run of poor form means they are now just four points above the relegation zone.

Yet Ferdinand can still see signs of encouragement.

“The worrying thing for me would be if you didn’t see any signs at all,” said the defender.

“You might see them more at home than away at the moment but the fact you see signs is encouraging, even when you’re in a rut and not doing very well.

“If we take our home form into our away form then we won’t be sitting here talking like this.

“But the lads are 100 per cent behind each other and the manager and I’m sure the fans must see that because we’ve got a recipe here that can be successful.”

The Shrimpers will now be aiming to show that against Fleetwood this weekend.

And Ferdinand - who has missed the last two matches with a knee problem sustained against Shrewsbury - is hoping to be involved.

“The injury is OK,” said the experienced centre-back.

“I trained on Thursday and it’s looking better than it first was.

“It’s been tough watching, especially when things aren’t going well, so hopefully I can play.”