SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown said he was unwilling to break the bank for John-Joe O’Toole.

Midfielder O’Toole has now joined Northampon Town after Brown revealed he was not keen to offer the goal-getter the wages he wanted.

“I’m not slagging John-Joe off because he’s a good player but I wasn’t prepared to break our wage structure for a midfielder who played for a Bristol Rovers team who got relegated last season,” said Brown.

“I met with him a couple of times and was interested in signing him but Northampton made him a good offer and good luck to him there.”

Meanwhile, Blues have also lost out on signing former loanee Jakub Sokolik.

Centre-back Sokolik has now joined Yeovil Town, as was first revealed by Echosport.

And Brown has wished his former loanee all the best with the Glovers.

“We did all we could to sign Jakub but it just came down to Yeovil being in a higher league than us,” said the Shrimpers chief.

“But he’s a great kid and a very good player who did well for us so I wish him the very best with Yeovil and hope he does well for them too.”