SOUTHEND United manager Paul Sturrock had no complaints after a 2-1 defeat at Brentford last night ended his hopes of hosting Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Roots Hall.

Blues would have taken on the European Champions later this month and earned an estimated £300,000 in the process if they had won at Griffin Park last night.

However, Southend were second best for most of the third round replay and would have lost by a far greater margin had goalkeeper Paul Smith not pulled off a number of fantastic saves.

Sturrock said: “The better team won on the night and I don’t think there are any doubts about that.

“They’re a very good side and that’s why they’re going for promotion from League One.

“We allowed them to have too many shots for my liking. Our goalkeeper was fantastic. He made some very good saves but unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on that and get through.

“It’s obviously disappointing because you don’t get many chances to play against a team like Chelsea and we all knew about the financial rewards it would bring.

“But now we need to get back on the rails because we’re still in with a chance of promotion and that has always been our number one aim this season.”