BRISTOL Rovers striker Matt Harrold joked he was glad to show the Southend United fans he was not “completely useless” by continuing his unbelievable scoring sequence against his former side on Friday night.

The ex-Seevic student netted for the fourth game in succession against the Shrimpers in a 1-1 draw.

And he has now netted five goals in seven games against Blues since leaving the club in 2008.

“It’s crazy the way the way things work out and that I always seem to score against Southend,” said Harrold.

“I’ve got five against them now and that’s only one less than I actually scored for them in two years.

“Every time we go to play them everyone always tells me I’m going to score and I think ‘well it can’t keep on happening’.

“But it happened again and long may it continue as far as I’m concerned.

“I didn’t even get that much stick this time so it wasn’t that firing me up this time either,” he said.

“However I do like coming back to Roots Hall and scoring because it shows that I’m not actually completely useless like most people there think I am.”

Harrold struggled during his spell with the Shrimpers and scored just six times in 59 appearances for the club.

But the 29-year-old felt the opportunity to play in the Championship came too early on in his career.

“I’m not sure I was ready to play so high up at that stage and I really lost a lot of confidence when we got relegated as well,” said Harrold.

“I always gave my all and worked as hard as I could but sometimes it just doesn’t work out for you somewhere and it was frustrating I couldn’t make the most of the chance.

“Since leaving I’ve scored a few goals though and hopefully I can keep on doing that for Bristol Rovers this season now,” he added.