NEIL Harris felt Southend United came together as a team to win 2-0 at Burton Albion on Saturday.

The experienced striker was delighted to score Blues’ second goal on his return to the starting line-up at the Pirelli Stadium.

But Harris was more pleased by the spirit his side showed to move back in to the automatic promotion places.

And he is now demanding more of the same in tonight’s crunch clash against Crawley Town at Roots Hall, which is being screened live on Sky Sports.

“We had the team unity, desire and hunger you need to win promotion out there and now we need to keep it up,” said Harris, 34.

“There were a group of boys in the team who fought for each other and I thought we were nice and solid as well.

“We came into the game after having a lot of bad press but that’s all in the past now.

“It’s all about looking forward and we have a proverbial six-pointer against Crawley this evening.”

Blues moved up to third in the League Two table after beating the Brewers for the first time in their history.

However, Crawley were beaten 1-0 by Torquay United and slipped to sixth in the standings. They are now six points behind Southend with three games in hand.

And Harris is keen to extend that gap even further.

“It’s a big game but we’re going into it in good shape after beating Burton,” said Harris. “I’m looking forward to it as well and hope to be involved again.”

Harris’ start against Burton was his first since being named in the starting line-up at AFC Wimbledon in late December. The former Millwall forward made the most of his rare chance to impress by scoring his side’s second goal, which he celebrated on the touchline with the club’s staff and entire squad.

“It was just about showing that we’re together now,” said Harris.

“That’s why I did it and it was nice to score because up until then I was starting to think it wasn’t going to go in for me.”

FULL STORY IN MONDAY'S ECHO