RYAN Hall is confident Southend United can set up a trip to Liverpool by winning at Oldham Athletic next week.

Hall bagged his ninth goal of the season to help Blues draw 1-1 with the League One Latics in the second round of the FA Cup at Roots Hall on Saturday.

But he is convinced his side can still win the tie.

“Towards the end on Saturday we were all over Oldham and they were really hanging on, so that gives us confidence for the replay,” said Hall, 23.

“I still think we have a good chance of going through because we’re on a good run and want to try and keep it going for as long as we can.”

The draw with Oldham made it 17 matches without defeat for Blues as they equalled the club record for the longest ever run without defeat.

And Hall was pleased with his part in the stalemate as he cooly converted from long range to bag his ninth goal of the season.

“Their goalkeeper ran out and made a silly mistake by kicking it straight to me,” said Hall.

“I just concentrated on hitting the target because I knew if I did that then there was no way the keeper could get back to save it.

“It was great to see it go in but it was a shame we couldn’t go on to win it, especially as Bilel (Mohsni) had some great chances to score.”

Oldham had earlier also wasted some excellent opportunities in front of goal during the first half.

That led to manager Paul Sturrock bringing on both Neil Harris and Blair Sturrock at the break and the Scotsman was far happier with his side’s performance after the interval.

“After we changed it around I thought we were much better and Oldham had to hang on for a draw,” said Sturrock.

“In the first half I think we showed them too much respect and the solid formation I went with didn’t really work.

“But in the second half we were able to hold the ball up better and that made a big difference.

“It was nice to equal the club record though and hopefully we can beat it tomorrow against Swindon."