RYAN Hall has revealed he is committed to Southend United – but is still keen to play at a higher level.

Blues boss Paul Sturrock has held talks with the winger in a bid to stop transfer speculation affecting the winger’s form.

But Hall insists he has been told that Southend will allow him to leave if a bigger club comes in for him.

“The manager had a chat with me about things and told me that he wouldn’t stand in my way if a club from a higher league came in for me,” said Hall, who has been linked to both Nottingham Forest and Peterborough United

“He told me I had a year left on my contract and that we would have another look at things at the end of the season.

“Of course I want to play higher up, like any player does, but I’m fully focused on doing well for Southend and hopefully helping us to get promotion this season by scoring as many goals as I can.”

Hall finished last season as Blues’ top scorer after hitting the back of the net 14 times and he also had more assists than any other player in the country.

He is now aiming for more of the same this term, starting with tonight’s Capital One Cup clash at Peterborough United.

“It will be weird to start the season with a cup game but we want to do well and go as far in the competition as we can,” said Hall, 24.

“Peterborough will be a hard game for us because they’re two divisions higher than we are but hopefully we can play well and get the win.

“Personally, I’m just really pleased to get the games started because it does seem to have been a really long pre-season this year.”