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Bradbury aiming to topple Shrimpers
By Neil Perrett
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EX-SOUTHEND: Lee Bradbury
LEE Bradbury is refusing to concede defeat despite facing his toughest assignment in his bid to avoid an unwanted hat-trick of relegations.
Bradbury will be hoping to help Cherries emerge triumphant from their latest tour of duty when he heads to former club Southend tomorrow.
The 32-year-old, who experienced relegation for the first time with Walsall in 2004, suffered the same fate with the Shrimpers last season.
And with Cherries currently 11 points adrift of safety, Bradbury is desperate to play his part in helping Kevin Bond's men win their own battle for survival.
Bradbury, who joined Cherries in a permanent move from Southend in August following a brief loan spell, told the Daily Echo: "Nobody likes to see relegation on their CV.
"But if we perform to the best of our ability, like we have in the past month, I think we could pull out of it. All our home games are winnable and if we could keep nicking points away, we should have every chance.
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"The 10-point deduction has made it even more difficult but the manager has done brilliantly. He's only got 14 pros and we've had injuries as well. But he's done a marvellous job with what he's had to work with and nobody can take that away from him.
"We know we've got to be at our best in every game. We've got a very small squad and everybody is pulling in the same direction. That's why we've done well in the past four or five weeks. All the lads have been working really hard and that's why we've got results.
"Sometimes you've got to hold up your hand and say you were outplayed and that's what happened against Doncaster. It was tough with 11 men and even more of an uphill battle with 10. But there's no reason why we can't go to Southend and get something."
Bradbury, who required three stitches after sustaining a cut above his eye in midweek, was an unused substitute when Southend registered a convincing 4-1 win at Dean Court a month ago.
He added: "They are a good side. They knock the ball around well and have got a couple of players in midfield in Nick Bailey and Alan McCormack who can both score goals.
"I think they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. Steve Tilson is a good manager and he's got them organised.
"They will be disappointed if they don't make the play-offs.
"But we contributed to our own downfall against them last month. We gave them chances to get goals instead of making them create their own and also gave away a couple of sloppy goals. We've done okay since then by winning four out of six.
"Their centre-halves are big and strong and we were under the cosh that day.
"Hopefully we've got a bit of a run behind us now and can put them under a bit more pressure and try to make them make mistakes."
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New-boy Revell is nice and three-sy
By Neil Perrett
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HITMAN: Alex Revell
SOUTHEND striker Alex Revell is targeting a repeat performance against Cherries when the two sides square up at Roots Hall tomorrow.
The Shrimpers' new recruit, a £150,000 transfer window capture, bagged a hat-trick for Brighton when he faced Cherries on New Year's Day.
"It was a nice feeling getting the hat-trick," said the 24-year-old. "We won 3-2 and although their squad has changed quite a bit since then, hopefully I can score my first Southend goal and help us get the win as well."
Southend's play-off push suffered a dent following a 2-1 defeat by Millwall in midweek, while Cherries' bid to avoid relegation took a turn for the worse at the hands of Doncaster.
Revell added: "This is a massive game for us and we need to come out all guns blazing after what happened at Millwall. We deserved to lose but, thankfully, the other results went our way and we didn't lose too much ground."
Cherries boss Kevin Bond is also hoping to bounce back after the Doncaster defeat put paid to his side's chances of securing a hat-trick of league wins.
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Bond said: "It can only be a case of writing it off. Things didn't go our way against Doncaster. We gave away a poor goal in the first minute and, in my opinion, Shaun Cooper's sending off was extremely harsh.
"It doesn't matter who is in front of us next because the game will be massively important for us. It happens to be Southend this week and we will endeavour to get a side together which is difficult to beat. I know we need to win but we can't afford to be stupid and go too gung-ho."
Bond is also hoping Cherries can avenge their heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Southend at Dean Court a month ago.
"A couple of errors cost us goals and Southend went 2-0 up without doing anything to be in front," added Bond.
"They are a good outfit and have got a good balance about them. I'm sure they would have expected to be at least where they are in the table, probably higher. They are a good, solid side and will be looking for a good finish to the season to kick into the play-off places. It will be another tough game for us."
By Neil Perrett
Comment | Read Comments (1)
EX-SOUTHEND: Lee Bradbury
LEE Bradbury is refusing to concede defeat despite facing his toughest assignment in his bid to avoid an unwanted hat-trick of relegations.
Bradbury will be hoping to help Cherries emerge triumphant from their latest tour of duty when he heads to former club Southend tomorrow.
The 32-year-old, who experienced relegation for the first time with Walsall in 2004, suffered the same fate with the Shrimpers last season.
And with Cherries currently 11 points adrift of safety, Bradbury is desperate to play his part in helping Kevin Bond's men win their own battle for survival.
Bradbury, who joined Cherries in a permanent move from Southend in August following a brief loan spell, told the Daily Echo: "Nobody likes to see relegation on their CV.
"But if we perform to the best of our ability, like we have in the past month, I think we could pull out of it. All our home games are winnable and if we could keep nicking points away, we should have every chance.
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"The 10-point deduction has made it even more difficult but the manager has done brilliantly. He's only got 14 pros and we've had injuries as well. But he's done a marvellous job with what he's had to work with and nobody can take that away from him.
"We know we've got to be at our best in every game. We've got a very small squad and everybody is pulling in the same direction. That's why we've done well in the past four or five weeks. All the lads have been working really hard and that's why we've got results.
"Sometimes you've got to hold up your hand and say you were outplayed and that's what happened against Doncaster. It was tough with 11 men and even more of an uphill battle with 10. But there's no reason why we can't go to Southend and get something."
Bradbury, who required three stitches after sustaining a cut above his eye in midweek, was an unused substitute when Southend registered a convincing 4-1 win at Dean Court a month ago.
He added: "They are a good side. They knock the ball around well and have got a couple of players in midfield in Nick Bailey and Alan McCormack who can both score goals.
"I think they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. Steve Tilson is a good manager and he's got them organised.
"They will be disappointed if they don't make the play-offs.
"But we contributed to our own downfall against them last month. We gave them chances to get goals instead of making them create their own and also gave away a couple of sloppy goals. We've done okay since then by winning four out of six.
"Their centre-halves are big and strong and we were under the cosh that day.
"Hopefully we've got a bit of a run behind us now and can put them under a bit more pressure and try to make them make mistakes."
=======================================
New-boy Revell is nice and three-sy
By Neil Perrett
Comment | Read Comments (2)
HITMAN: Alex Revell
SOUTHEND striker Alex Revell is targeting a repeat performance against Cherries when the two sides square up at Roots Hall tomorrow.
The Shrimpers' new recruit, a £150,000 transfer window capture, bagged a hat-trick for Brighton when he faced Cherries on New Year's Day.
"It was a nice feeling getting the hat-trick," said the 24-year-old. "We won 3-2 and although their squad has changed quite a bit since then, hopefully I can score my first Southend goal and help us get the win as well."
Southend's play-off push suffered a dent following a 2-1 defeat by Millwall in midweek, while Cherries' bid to avoid relegation took a turn for the worse at the hands of Doncaster.
Revell added: "This is a massive game for us and we need to come out all guns blazing after what happened at Millwall. We deserved to lose but, thankfully, the other results went our way and we didn't lose too much ground."
Cherries boss Kevin Bond is also hoping to bounce back after the Doncaster defeat put paid to his side's chances of securing a hat-trick of league wins.
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Bond said: "It can only be a case of writing it off. Things didn't go our way against Doncaster. We gave away a poor goal in the first minute and, in my opinion, Shaun Cooper's sending off was extremely harsh.
"It doesn't matter who is in front of us next because the game will be massively important for us. It happens to be Southend this week and we will endeavour to get a side together which is difficult to beat. I know we need to win but we can't afford to be stupid and go too gung-ho."
Bond is also hoping Cherries can avenge their heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Southend at Dean Court a month ago.
"A couple of errors cost us goals and Southend went 2-0 up without doing anything to be in front," added Bond.
"They are a good outfit and have got a good balance about them. I'm sure they would have expected to be at least where they are in the table, probably higher. They are a good, solid side and will be looking for a good finish to the season to kick into the play-off places. It will be another tough game for us."
