Sheridan salutes fans after Main’s crucial winner

John Sheridan celebrating with the travelling fans

JOHN Sheridan celebrated in front of Athletic's band of travelling fans at Southend as his side took a huge step towards securing safety in Sky Bet League One.

In-form Curtis Main scored for the fourth time in five outings as three points were secured thanks to a 1-0 win at Southend.

The result, coupled with other favourable scorelines elsewhere, leaves Athletic as a 250-1 shot with bookmakers to be relegated this season with three games to go.

While not officially out of the mire yet, Sheridan’s delight at his eighth victory in 19 games in charge was evident at Roots Hall as he saluted the 193 fans huddled together in the away section at full-time.

“It is a massive plus for us and puts us in a great position,” said Sheridan, who will now prepare his men for the visit of a Crewe side relegated after a 1-1 draw at home to Colchester last night.

“There are still three games to go so we can still be caught.

“But we have gained points on other teams, so there are teams who have to win games to catch us with not long left.

“It was a great response and for our supporters here, though there weren’t loads of them, I am so chuffed.

“They travelled all this way and you could see how delighted I was at the result. It is a big step for us.”

With James Wilson (ankle) not fit enough to feature — he may yet be back in contention for the Crewe game — teenager George Edmundson came into the side and played his part in a back-three effort which secured a sixth clean sheet in the last nine outings.

“Personnel wise, I have not got a lot to choose from and James Wilson travelled hoping to be fit but he wasn’t,” Sheridan said.

“With George coming in and with the experience of Anthony Gerrard and Brian Wilson I felt three at the back just gave us that strength there.

“George did really well. I threw him in and told him to enjoy the game.”

While Southend enjoyed plenty of possession and could easily have taken the lead through David Worrall, Sheridan saluted the way his side again toughed it out.

“It is a great performance and the work ethic from the players has been tremendous since I have come in,” the manager added, as Athletic moved up a spot to 17th, six points clear of Blackpool in the 21st.

“It is down to their desire to win games and to get something from games.

“They have done well and even when we haven’t been playing well, I’ve always felt we could get something from a game. It is a good sign.

“Sometimes when you make the basic errors we have made, you get punished by the better players. Here, we got away with one or two.

“It is a great result against a tough team. Three points was what we came here for and it's what we got.”