Much has changed at Stanley since the opening day defeat to Southend United but Stanley’s players head to Roots Hall with a renewed sense of optimism following the midweek win over Oxford United.

That was the Reds’ first win in six and now John Coleman is keen for them to string a run together.

Hosts Southend are already in the midst of a fine run of form and with Phil Brown’s team eyeing promotion they will be formidable opponents on their own patch.

Coleman says he has a fully fit squad to choose from with only niggles affecting players.

Adam Buxton limped out of the win over Oxford and is being kept an eye on by medical staff.

Striker James Gray will be available for selection if required having decided against making a loan move to Conference side Southport.

Southend are likely to be unchanged after a convincing win over Cheltenham on Tuesday night.

The Shrimpers have spent five of the last 10 seasons in League Two, four seasons in League One and one season in the Championship.

In the 2004/05 season the Shrimpers won promotion to League One after beating Lincoln City 2-0 in the play-off final, after finishing in 4^th place in League Two. Freddy Eastwood and Duncan Jupp scored Southend’s goals in extra time.

They then made it back to back promotions after winning the League One title but only lasted one season in the Championship as they were relegated in the 2006/07 season after finishing in 22^nd place in the table.

They then spent the next three seasons in League One before being relegated in the 2009/10 season, after finishing in 23^rd place in the table.

The Shrimpers have then spent the last four seasons in League Two and finished in 5^th place last season, before they lost to Burton Albion in the play-offs.

Phil Brown

Brown is currently in his fifth managerial role after succeeding Paul Sturrock as manager of the Shrimpers in 2013. Prior to being Southend manager, Brown has also had spells in charge of Preston North End, Hull City, Derby County and as caretaker manager of Bolton Wanderers.

Prior to being a manager, Brown also had a successful playing career, appearing for clubs including Hartlepool United, Halifax Town, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool.

Joe Pigott

21 year old Pigott joined the Shrimpers on loan from Charlton Athletic in January and has made an excellent start to his Southend career, scoring four goals in his first six appearances.

Pigott has so far made 12 appearances for Charlton and has also had loan spells at Bromley, Gillingham and Newport County.

The two sides have met on six occasions at Roots Hall with Stanley winning one, drawing two and losing three of the six meetings. Last season when the sides met at Roots Hall the Shrimpers won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Barry Corr.

The sides also met earlier this season at the Store First Stadium with the Shrimpers picking up all three points with a 1-0 victory with Lee Barnard scoring the winning goal.

Stanley won for the first time in six in midweek against Oxford and are now targetting back-to-back wins for the first time since November.

John Coleman’s team sit 15th in the League Two table, seven points clear of the relegation places and the same number from 9th spot.

The Shrimpers have had an excellent season so far, currently sitting in 4^th place in League Two. They have won seven, drawn six and lost two of their 15 home league matches so far this season.

In their last match they defeated Cheltenham Town 2-0 at home on Tuesday night with Joe Pigott scoring both goals.

Stanley

James Gray 5
Shay McCartan 5
Kal Naismith 4
Luke Joyce 4
Rob Atkinson 4
Piero Mingoia 4
Sean Maguire 4
Marcus Carver 3

Southend

Jack Payne 7
Barry Corr 6
David Worrall 5

Mick Russell (Hertfordshire)

A regular at Championship level, Mr. Russell brings a wealth of experience to any match.

His last Stanley game was the 2-1 home defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge in October 2013.

This season: 21 games, 54 yellow cards, 3 red cards

The Ground

The Shrimpers currently play at Roots Hall, having moved to the ground in 1955. Previous grounds for the Shrimpers include the Kursaal and Southend Stadium. The current capacity of Roots Hall is 12,392 and the club’s record attendance is 31,090, which was set against Liverpool in the FA Cup in 1979.

For more information on Southend United, why not visit their official website www.southendunited.co.uk or their Twitter feed @SUFCRootsHall

Current Shrimpers midfielder David Worrall has appeared for both clubs, making four appearances for Stanley in a loan spell in 2008. He has also made 24 appearances and scored five goals for the Shrimpers since signing for the club in 2014.