Southend v Tamworth preview: Dyer has options, but where is the balance?

Southend should beat a Tamworth side which has conceded at least twice in every league game. I said on the podcast that Blues ought to be too strong for them, and I stand by it. What I cannot back is another performance like Carlisle, with the defence exposed and the midfield too far away to do much about it. There is no comfort in having enough good forwards to rescue a game if the way they are being used helps create the emergency.

Kieron Dyer recognises that problem. In his pre-match interview, he acknowledged the concern over one clean sheet and said a player dropping deeper could have stopped Georgie Kelly receiving so freely at Carlisle. He still sees progress, but he is not pretending the defensive base is right. For me, that moves the question on: can his next selection deliver the protection he knows is missing, while getting more from the attack?

Tamworth can make the gaps matter

Southend are fifth with 14 points from seven matches; Tamworth are 22nd on five. The visitors have nevertheless scored 13 league goals, only one fewer than Blues. Their defending has left them near the bottom, not an inability to cause problems at the other end.

At Harrogate on Saturday, Kieren Donnelly’s run was interrupted by a defensive challenge. Ben Milnes collected the ball and scored from around 20 yards, giving Tamworth a sixth-minute lead in a game they lost 3-1. The initial challenge had done its job; it was Milnes’s freedom behind it that did the damage.

Against Boston, Milnes supplied Donnelly for a headed goal, then Donnelly later flicked the ball through for Morgan Roberts to run beyond him and score. Roberts had also been crossing towards Danny Creaney. Tamworth can use the same players differently from one attack to the next, and that matters against a defence too easily drawn towards the ball.

Sensei Phil highlighted Creaney’s aerial threat on the podcast. Charlie would favour Daniel Cox alongside Ben Goodliffe for that contest, while recognising Rayan Oyebade’s ability in possession. But winning the header and controlling what follows are different jobs. If Tamworth again use Donnelly and Creaney together, both centre-backs can be occupied before Roberts makes his run. A defender stepping out to Milnes would then leave somebody else to take responsibility for a forward. Without midfield help, one decision creates the next problem.

Dyer wants a settled back four and perhaps a settled midfield pivot. He explained that rotation was intended to protect Vontae Daley-Campbell and Kyle McAdam, and might also have contributed to the defensive problems. He intends to make a few changes against Tamworth. The task is to add freshness without losing the understanding he wants to build at the back.

The partnership has a cost as well as a promise

Charley Kendall’s permanent move to Worthing on 7 September, on undisclosed terms, has removed another forward option. His Southend record reads 16 goals in 68 appearances since December 2024. His two goals in the FA Trophy semi-final against Southport are worth remembering. The panel wished him well while seeing a limited route to regular starts. With fewer forwards, starting two together leaves less cover on the bench.

Promise Omochere intercepted a backpass at Carlisle and supplied Leon Chambers-Parillon for the late equaliser. He had replaced Harry Cardwell, so the partnership discussed in the Carlisle preview never had its chance. Charlie wants to see it from the start, giving Cardwell a partner instead of asking him to occupy the defence on his own.

Before Carlisle, Dyer explained the risk of starting Omochere after a missed pre-season, while leaving open a first start during this three-game week. A partnership with Cardwell would give Tamworth more to contend with. Cardwell could meet the delivery with Omochere close enough for the knockdown, while Chambers-Parillon arrives beyond them or meets a pull-back. The second forward would demand a defender’s attention, giving the deeper runner a better chance of going unnoticed.

Where the players stand matters as much as the numbers. If an extra striker replaces a midfielder and Chambers-Parillon advances while the deeper players stay back, the gap between them can grow. Somebody then has further to travel to collect the clearance or follow Roberts. That is where Milnes could get his next possession. Keeping Southend compact would let the forwards press with help nearby; stretching the side would leave them chasing a ball already on its way towards Goodliffe.

Sensei Phil sees Anthony Hartigan as the protection and passing option. I was less impressed by Hartigan’s Carlisle display, but he could give the forwards somebody to return the ball to and help Southend sustain the attack. He would need a nearby player to share that work: asking him to support the forwards and screen Donnelly across a large gap is asking one man to solve a problem created by the positions of several.

Support inside, space outside

Ryan Battrum offers one possible way to help the midfield. The 21-year-old West Ham right-back arrived on a one-month loan on Monday. Dyer identified competition for Daley-Campbell and Battrum’s ability to move inside from full-back, as well as his physical strength. His eight National League appearances at Braintree last season included a goal and an assist in their 3-2 defeat at Roots Hall.

A full-back moving centrally could give Hartigan, if selected, that nearby passing option. With someone such as Zavier Massiah-Edwards holding the width, Battrum could support an attack without joining the forwards in the box. But he cannot also provide the outside overlap. On losing the ball, a central position might help him reach Milnes; it would leave a different player responsible for the space he had vacated on the right.

I would have preferred a left-back. Dyer sees Cox as cover there, which explains his thinking even if I still have concerns about that side. Battrum adds a right-back option without requiring another player to be moved across, potentially helping Dyer keep more of the defence together.

Daley-Campbell and Massiah-Edwards showed the outside route at Carlisle before Josh Popoola’s shot took a deflection wide. Dyer praised Massiah-Edwards’s runs behind the pressure and wants Chambers-Parillon to mix receiving to feet with movement away from his marker. Those runs could support Cardwell without a second striker: draw a defender wide, then give the passer a target arriving inside.

Tamworth have given encouragement for it. Harrogate broke through their back line for the equaliser and advanced through the right channel before half-time. Against Boston, they conceded to an unmarked far-post header from a corner. Hartigan’s delivery for Oyebade’s saved header at Carlisle is another combination worth using. Southend have ways to make Tamworth defend their own goal for sustained spells. That would be a welcome change from having to force the issue late.

Podcast predictions

Charlie has gone for Southend 2-0, Sensei Phil Southend 2-1, and I am backing Southend 3-1. Sensei Phil expects the defence to concede; my confidence is in Southend having enough to win, not in the problems at Carlisle having disappeared.

Losing one challenge will not condemn the selection; what matters is whether Southend keep finding a player for the next ball, or keep leaving Milnes free to set Roberts away. Dyer has identified the problem and explained some of the choices behind it. I want to see that understanding turn into a side which can stay on the front foot, rather than one waiting for its substitutes to change the evening. There should be enough here to beat Tamworth. The performance needs to make that confidence feel justified.

Team news and match details

Sahid Kamara is available, with Tamworth or Gateshead earmarked for his involvement. Lewys Twamley’s Carlisle omission was selection, not injury; Dyer sees him as suited to these fixtures.

Rico Richards has had a positive scan, and Dyer hopes to have him back within the next three games. The visitors’ Luke Fairlamb came off at Harrogate with a left-leg problem, and his availability remains uncertain.

Southend United v Tamworth, Enterprise National League. Roots Hall, Tuesday 15 September 2026, kick-off 7.45pm BST. In New Zealand, that is Wednesday 16 September at 6.45am NZST.

Choose tickets through Southend United’s official booking page.