GARY Waddock will be telling his men to play the game rather than the occasion against Southend on Saturday.

Wanderers know that victory against the Shrimpers will guarantee them a place in League One next season and they can still be promoted even if they fail to win.

But to Waddock it’s just another game – and that will be the message he gives to his players before he sends them down the Adams Park tunnel at five to three.

He said: “It will be a great atmosphere but we don’t play the occasion, we play the game. It’ll be very exciting but we have to focus on the game.

“The players know what they need to do. In the last couple of weeks the games they have gone in to, they knew the importance of them. They have been calm, they have got the results – now we go into the final game looking for the same thing.

“The last couple of weeks have been very important and going into the last couple of games that’s all we wanted, for it to be in our own hands. We’ve got that and now we have to make sure we take that opportunity.”

Wanderers have hit top form at just the right time, with a nine-match unbeaten run keeping their noses ahead of fourth-placed Shrewsbury in the chase for the final automatic promotion place.

But Waddock says that run – which started with a 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury on March 19 – won’t count for anything.

He said: “We have to win another game. They have all gone and finished, it’s the one in front that’s the most important one.

“Everyone’s confident and focused. Crewe and Bury were must-win games for us and the players coped extremely well. They were very calm and we got the results that we wanted.

“It’s in our hands, which is great. That’s all we wanted. It’ll change during the course of the game. I’m sure people will be looking at what Shrewsbury are doing and what we are doing, but after 95 minutes we’ll know where we are.”

The Blues boss said the build-up to the game had been “exciting” as his side look to seal the top-three spot they had their eye on right at the start of the campaign.

He said: “It’s something we set out for from day one of pre-season to hopefully be in this position with a chance of achieving what we want to achieve.”

But he’s taking nothing for granted against a Southend side who will feel they could have done better this season.

New manager Paul Sturrock had no money and virtually no players when he took at Roots Hall, but the Essex boys overcame that to briefly flirt with the play-off places and Waddock is expecting a tough game.

He said: “At the start of pre-season he had a handful of players. They have been able to consolidate, they have done well this season and he’s proved he can take them forward. He’s done an extremely good job there.”