Trollope targets top-six finish

The Pirates are seven points behind the top six but have eight games remaining to haul themselves into contention, although Trollope insists his side must improve their defending. "Some people have scoffed because we think we can still go up this season but there is still a confidence in the camp that we can string the required results together," said Trollope. "It's a big ask and we will certainly have to defend a lot better than that. "Our defending was extremely poor, which is disappointing as it has been our strength in recent weeks. But credit Southend because their front lads caused us a lot of problems. "However, our positional play at the back was not what we require and we have a lot of work to do on the training ground. The result keeps us in touch with the play-off zone and means we have a hugely important Easter coming up."