Southend have had a successful start to the season but they know they will need to raise their game if they are to reach the Fourth Round of The FA Cup for the first time in five years.
After a hectic Christmas schedule, the League Two promotion hopefuls will need to regroup when they welcome Championship side Millwall to Roots Hall.
Southend are no strangers to stepping up against big opposition, famously knocking Manchester United out of the League Cup in 2006 and forcing a replay with Chelsea in the 2009 FA Cup Third Round after a spirited showing at Stamford Bridge.
Southend United v Millwall
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 4 January 2013
Roots Hall
Manager Phil Brown is a man that knows a thing or two about big occasions, winning the 2008 Championship play-offs with Hull City, and he certainly believes his squad can impress this season in The FA Cup.
He said: "The squad that I have been working with has been outstanding.
"I think that is the reason we are where we are in the division and why we are where we are in The FA Cup.
"If we come in to the Millwall game with good form, confidence is high and everything is positive about the players then I’ll be confident going in to that game.
"It’s going to be about confidence."
Decisive wins over fellow league rivals Chesterfield and Morecombe in the earlier rounds will have boosted confidence, but the Essex side know this tie will prove a challenge.
Brown added: "Millwall are two divisions higher than us so it’s a good test of where we are in terms of our progress and our development.
"They are always well drilled and organised so it’s going to be a real good test of our character and our resolve to get past them."
Brown and his team are certainly relishing the tie and the chance to progress to the Fourth Round.
He said: "Everything about it is mouth-watering for me. It’s a local derby and it’s a team in a higher division."
