Captain Gus Scott-Morriss of Southend United has dismissed any notion of the team easing up in their last three National League matches, despite securing a play-off spot for the second year in a row.
The Shrimpers confirmed their place in the top seven following a 2-0 victory over Aldershot Town on Tuesday, maintaining an unbeaten streak of seven matches across all competitions.
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Scott-Morriss, a full-back who netted his 16th goal of the season from a free-kick, is just two goals shy of surpassing his total from the previous season, which ended in disappointment with a loss to Oldham Athletic at Wembley.
He expressed optimism that the team’s current momentum will create a “snowball effect” leading into the final matches.
“We proved last year that anything can happen in the play-offs, and we aspire to improve upon that this season,” he told BBC Essex.
“Our goal is to enter the play-offs with as much momentum as possible.”
When asked if the team would take time to celebrate their play-off qualification, the 28-year-old replied, “We can enjoy that when we’re in League Two.”
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Southend, who lost their EFL status in 2021, has made significant strides on the field under Kevin Maher since being acquired by the COSU (Custodians of Southend United) consortium two summers ago.
Additionally, they’ve secured a trip to Wembley by reaching the FA Trophy final and are undergoing further changes off the pitch, including the recent appointment of Oliver Gage as their new director of football.
With players returning from injury, Scott-Morriss stated, “It’s great to see the quality coming back into the squad.”
“The players will be competitive, not wanting to lose their spots, while those returning will be eager to earn theirs back. This will only benefit the team and hopefully enhance our performance.”
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He expressed his excitement over scoring 46 goals for the club since joining from Hemel Hempstead in the summer of 2022, adding, “Let’s see if I can reach 50 this season.”
His goal against Aldershot opened the scoring, and the team maintained their lead in the second half after Charley Kendall doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time.
Scott-Morriss reflected on his free-kick strike, saying, “I’d been overthinking and trying to be too precise, so I decided to focus on hitting a good area and trusted that a solid strike would be enough, and fortunately, it went in.”
“It’s about maturing as a player and understanding my capabilities. My time at Hemel saw me shifted to a midfield or right wing-back role where I discovered my goal-scoring abilities, and I aim to keep that going.”
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In other news, Southend’s ticket allocation for the FA Trophy final against Wealdstone on May 17 has been increased to 21,000.
The club reported that over 11,500 seats were sold to season-ticket holders within two days.
The second phase of ticket sales, available to supporters with prior booking history, will begin Wednesday evening and run until Friday.