Southend United boss Steve Tilson will again call on the old guard for tonight's clash with Crewe Alexandra.

United have picked up two wins from their last two matches against Bristol Rovers and Tranmere Rovers.

And Tilson hopes to get a hat-trick of victories under his belt against the struggling Railwaymen this evening.

"I think we've been much harder to break down in the last couple of games and that has certainly helped us to get the wins so we want to carry that on now," said Tilson.

"No disrespect to the youngsters who had been playing because they did well but with the position we were in I felt we needed more experience.

"That led to the change around and since we've done that we've won both games and are look solid again.

"We kept a clean sheet against Bristol Rovers and only conceded a very dubious penalty on Saturday so that's good news and we want to keep Crewe out this evening."

Southend are now 13th in League One and hope to break into the top half of the table tonight with three points.

Crewe meanwhile remain second from bottom, eight points from safety, having lost three of their last four matches.

But Tilson is taking nothing for granted against the Alex.

"The league table will count for nothing because Crewe are a good side and they are desperate for points," he warned.

"We will have to work hard for the points but we want to keep this run we are on going.

"Yeovil have shown what is possible if you keep on getting victories because they've won four in a row to get up the table and we want to do the same."