SOUTHEND United striker Gavin Tomlin insisted he was a relieved man after his side saw off Bury on penalties in an FA Cup second round replay at Roots Hall on Tuesday night.

Tomlin, who scored for Blues with a neat header during normal time, saw his chipped spot kick easily kept out by Shakers goalkeeper Trevor Carson.

And the forward admitted he would never try a similar spot-kick ever again.

“Every penalty from now on I will be trying to hit the corner of the net,” said Tomlin.

“I went up with the intention of doing that when I went up to take my own against Bury but at the last minute I changed my mind.

“I thought the keeper was going to dive so I went to chip it down the middle but when I looked up he hadn’t moved at all and it was an awful feeling.

“I certainly won’t be trying that again and I was very, very pleased and relieved to see Daniel Bentley saved the next penalty which meant we were through to the next round.”

Tomlin’s second half header took his season’s tally to nine.

And he is now just one goal away from enjoying his most prolific ever season in front of goal.

“I just want to get as many goals as I can but it would be nice to set a new best,” said Tomlin, who also scored nine goals for Yeovil Town during the 2008/09 season.

“Things are going well at the moment and hopefully I can keep it going by scoring again to help us beat Bradford in what will be another big game on Saturday.”