Southend United boss Rob Newman appealed for positive backing from the terraces ahead of tomorrow's first ever Roots Hall clash with rock bottom Boston.
The Pilgrims, last season's Football Conference champions, will be the 100th club Blues have faced in league competition.
Stuart Thurgood - could make first league start of the campaign Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL
And Newman, whose team are 14th in Division Three, urged the Shrimpers' fans to stick by his men as they search for their first home triumph for more than two months.
"We all know things haven't been going well recently, but we need the supporters to keep backing us so we can get through this difficult patch," he said.
"The Boston match signals the start of a busy Christmas programme. After tomorrow's game we will have four league matches in 11 days, which could be the make or break of our season, and we need everybody to stick together.
"The fans have been brilliant so far and I would like them to know that all of their efforts, both home and away, are greatly appreciated.
"But we need them more than ever now to get behind us and help turn our season around.
"We are still only seven points adrift of the promotion play-offs and a good set of results during the festive fixtures could see us right back up there."
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Published Friday, December 13, 2002
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