Southend travel to Norwich tonight with reports that their players have yet to be paid their wages for January. The financial worries at Roots Hall add to their problems on the pitch, with a 3-1 defeat at MK Dons on Saturday dropping them to 18th in the League One table and leaving them winless in 2010.

Southend travel to Norwich tonight with reports that their players have yet to be paid their wages for January.

The financial worries at Roots Hall add to their problems on the pitch, with a 3-1 defeat at MK Dons on Saturday dropping them to 18th in the League One table and leaving them winless in 2010.

Less than a fortnight ago Southend dismissed reports that they had failed to pay the players.

The Shrimpers have been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid debt of �200,000, although they avoided a winding-up order when their case was adjourned for 28 days in London's High Court.

Meanwhile, striker Matt Paterson is hoping his first goal for the club at the weekend will help boost confidence for a team which faces City tonight and Charlton at the weekend.

"These are matches that you want to be involved in and if we can get something from them it would be a huge boost to our confidence for the remainder of the season," he said.

"That's what we want to happen and hopefully it can because it would be a big and important thing for us.

"It was good to score and get my first goal for Southend. It was a shame that it came so late and that it couldn't help us get something from the game but hopefully now I can build on this and start to get a few more.

"It's certainly helped my own confidence and of course I would love to start the next game but that's the manager's decision and he knows best what to do."