Tomorrow's game against Southend United will be particularly special for one player - midfielder Kevin Maher.

Maher remains a hugely popular figure at Roots Hall having skippered the Shrimpers out of League Two and on to promotion to the Coca-Cola Championship.

He completed ten years of service with United before joining Athletic on a free transfer in the summer following a brief loan spell at Gillingham, who also tried to sign him permanently.

An injury to Danny Whitaker gave Maher a chance to start at Northampton last week, and the experienced campaigner shone in a 1-0 win at Sixfields.

Now he'll be hoping to line up in the engine room again tomorrow as he plays at Roots Hall once more - this time as an away player.

"I've been looking forward to this game ever since I signed here," Maher said.  "It'll be good to go back, and an away win last week will hopefully stand us in good stead.

"I was there for ten years and I know all the ins and outs.  We went from near the bottom of League Two to the Championship and there were some great times.

"I've still got a lot of friends at Southend and I'll look forward to catching up with them - after the game, of course, and hopefully with three points in the bag.

"But Southend have a decent side and have been doing well lately, so it will definitely be a tough game."

Maher has found himself out of the starting side for long periods so far but grasped his chance last week and is in the thick of the battle to start against his former club tomorrow.

He added: "It's difficult when you're on the fringes but you can understand it when the team's doing well and the players who are in are playing well.

"There's not a lot you can do apart from work hard in training and stay sharp so you're ready to come in if you're called upon.

"When you do come in there's a bit of pressure because you don't know how long you'll be there for, and it's almost as if you have to prove yourself in that one game.

"But things went well last week [at Northampton] and hopefully we can pick up another three points tomorrow and carry on our way up the table."