Southend take on Westcombe Park at Warner's Bridge tomorrow with Kevin Harman targeting a top-half finish in 2005.
The Seasiders ended last year by climbing clear of the relegation zone and the director of rugby now wants his men to rise further up the National Division Three South table.
"We are in a much better position now, but there is still a lot of hard work to be done," said Harman.
"We finished the year in much better shape than we started it.
"But I never lost faith in this team. We had a lot of new players join the club over the summer and it was always going to take time for things to click.
"But we have turned the corner now and I honestly believe we can get better and better.
"It would be a great achievement for us between now and the end of the season if we could push on and finish in the top seven, which we are more than capable of.
"But our first priority is putting more breathing space between ourselves and the relegation places.
"It is very tight and there are seven or eight teams who are all looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom end of the table.
"We need to pick up more wins to begin putting some daylight between ourselves and these sides."
Victory tomorrow would see ninth placed Southend leapfrog their visitors, who are one place above Harman's team on points difference.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article