KEVIN Maher is focusing solely on Southend United ahead of tonight’s rearranged clash at AFC Fylde.

The hosts head into the game just two days after opting to part company with boss Chris Beech.

But Maher is fully concentrated on making sure the Shrimpers produce the performance needed to bounce back from Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Sutton United.

“For us it’s about focusing on us and what we do,” said the Blues head coach.

“We can’t control what goes on elsewhere.

“We’ll focus on making sure we do what we do well because the second half on Saturday wasn’t good enough.

We’ve got to respond and get the level of performance we feel like we need.”

Fylde head into the game sitting second from bottom in the National League standings after four defeats in succession.

However, Maher knows it will be another big test for Blues.

“We saw on Saturday that teams will fight and this is tough too,” said Maher.

“If you drop below your standards anything can happen and we saw that on Saturday as well.

“But I think it’s a positive we have this game so quickly.

“It means you don’t have a whole week to stew over what happened on Saturday.

“We put it to bed in training yesterday and we’re getting ready for the match tonight now.”

The away game is the first of three in the space of just eight days for the Shrimpers.

And Maher admitted he may look to make changes if possible.

“It’s always something you look at,” said the 47-year-old.

“We probably haven’t got too many bodies to be able to change too much but it’s something we’ll look at.

“Whether or not we’ll do it we’ll wait and see.”

The Shrimpers will again be without strikers Danny Waldron (knee) and Josh Walker (hamstring) along with midfielders Oli Coker (ankle) and Cav Miley (back).

But on loan forward Bim Pepple will be fit to feature despite a nasty clash of heads against Sutton on Saturday.

“He’s OK,” said Maher.

“It was a whack but I think the other guy came off worse.

“He’s a strong boy and he works his socks off for the team.”

Pepple will now be looking to bag his first Blues goal in a game which pits two of the league’s top scorers against each other.

Fylde’s Nick Haughton leads the way in the scoring charts with seven goals already this season while the Shrimpers’ Gus Scott-Morriss is joint second with six.

And Maher is fully aware of the threats Fylde possess.

“Nick Haughton can score goals obviously and they’ve got other players as well who can hurt you,” said Maher.

“Every team in this league is so competitive that if you drop below your standards you can get hurt.

“We have our own threats too but we’ve got to get back to the levels we know we can get to now.”