JACK Midson wants to serve up a treat for Southend United when they host Accrington Stanley at Roots Hall tomorrow.

The 27-year-old, who is on loan at Blues from Oxford United, coaches tennis in his spare time.

And he is aiming to be the ace in Southend’s attack this weekend.

“In my spare time away from football I do coach tennis in and around the Oxford and Middlesex area and it’s something I enjoy,” said Midson.

“But football comes first and I jumped at the chance of joining Southend.

“I need match time because I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to and it’s another big game tomorrow.

“We want a win and I’ve played Accrington at home once already this season for Oxford so maybe I can help the manager with how they might play against us.”

Midson made his Southend debut in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Macclesfield Town in the first round of the FA Cup.

But he was forced to sit out Tuesday’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Charlton Athletic having already played in a previous round for Oxford.

He looks set to return to the starting line-up this weekend and hopes to end an eventful week with a win.

“I played at Macclesfield last Saturday and had been training with Oxford up until yesterday when I trained with Southend for the first time so it’s been a crazy few days for me,” said Midson.

“That’s the career of a footballer though and I’m just happy to be able to play some games.”

Midson is therefore relishing tomorrow’s encounter with Accrington Stanley - which is the first game between the two clubs in 50 years - and he has been impressed by the standard of his team-mates - even if he does not know who they all are just yet!

“My first impressions have been good and the lads all seem nice,” said Midson.

“I thought I did alright last weekend at Macclesfield too but it takes time to get used to everyone and to know everyone’s name as well.

“But I’m sure I’ll get better the more I play and hopefully that will show tomorrow.”

Midson’s match sharpness will also improve the more he plays.

And he is delighted to still be able to do that in League Two “The gaffer at Oxford (Chris Wilder) wanted to get me out on loan and there were lot of Conference clubs interested,” said Midson, who was snapped up by the U’s from Histon.

“I worked hard to get out of the Conference though so I didn’t really want to go back there.

“In fact I initially said I didn’t want to go out on loan at all because I’ve moved to Oxford now and didn’t want to be driving around.

“But I’ll be staying over a few nights and I’m pleased to be here.”