But for a club that has barely had a dull moment since Steve Tilson took charge in 2003, further excitement now beckons thanks to a perfectly timed run back into the promotion race.

"If you had asked two-and-a-half months ago, people would have thought middle of the road would have been realistic," Tilson told BBC Sport.

"But we have gone on a fantastic run and now we have got to stay there, it will be tough and there is a lot of hard work still to be done.

"We have not got the easiest run-in but on our current form I'm confident we can stay there, we have given ourselves every chance of being in the top six."

From being 11th in League One in mid-January, the Shrimpers, who were relegated from the Championship last season, have since lost just two league games and have won six times in their current nine-match unbeaten run.

Tilson added: "If we keep doing what we have been doing of late we should not have a problem but we have got to do that.

"The lads have put themselves in such a good position we don't want to throw it away, the pressure is on a little bit but I am sure they can handle it.

Southend's climb into the play-off zone is even more notable given their lack of an out-and-out goalscorer.

Leon Clarke enjoyed a productive run during a loan spell from Wolves in the first half of the season but the weight of goals has come largely from midfield where Nicky Bailey, Mark Gower and Alan McCormack are all around the double-figure mark.

"I would have liked a centre-forward who had scored more than 20 goals, we would probably have got promoted by now," Tilson admitted.

"But the forwards who are playing at the moment are doing a fantastic job and we are sharing the goals around.

"We have also only conceded one goal in our last three games, which is an improvement on what we had been doing earlier on when we were probably leaking too many goals."

Tilson, a former Southend player who clocked up over 250 games in his two spells with the club, is the eighth longest serving manager in the country.

606: DEBATE Will Southend get promoted?

"Since I took over we have not had a season when we could relax at the end.

"We have either been in the thick of going up or going down and hopefully that will stand us in good stead. We have been in this position before," added Tilson, who wants Championship football back at Roots Hall.

"It was fantastic last year, apart from the disappointment of going down, we played on some fantastic grounds and against some big clubs.

"If we could get back up there it would be tremendous and I am sure the players who played in it last year will be doing their utmost to get back in."