SOUTHEND United centre back Ryan Cresswell has joined Fleetwood Town in a deal worth around £150,000.

As was revealed on the Echo website last night, Blues finally opted to accept a six figure sum for the want-away defender after rejecting two previous bids from Fleetwood and two lower offers from both York City and Chesterfield.

But Shrimpers boss Phil Brown feels the 25-year-old’s departure will hit his side hard during the forthcoming League Two season.

“It’s a big blow because Ryan is a good player who we ideally would’ve wanted to keep, “said Brown.

“However, I want players here who are 100 per cent in to Southend United and we wouldn’t have got that commitment from him because he wanted to leave.

“Ryan didn’t ever down tools or anything like that to be fair to him and he trained well when he came in but we wouldn’t have got that 24/7 mentality we’re looking for with him.

“That was down to the fact he wanted a move back up north and I don’t think he could have got more north than where he’s going to without going in Scotland.”

Cresswell made 54 appearances during his only season with the Shrimpers and scored eight goals despite lining up in defence.