PHIL Brown insists the inclusion of Gary Deegan has stopped his Southend United side from being too nice.

The aggressive Irishman has impressed in midfield since coming into the Shrimpers side.

And Brown believes his presence increases Blues’ physical prowess in a crucial area of the pitch “I sat down after the AFC Wimbledon game we lost 1-0 and should’ve won and I came to the conclusion we were being too nice,” said the Shrimpers boss.

“Managers look at things like that and that’s why I decided to bring Gary in.

“He gets in people’s faces, he makes challenges and he brings in that bit of experience we needed as well.

“I also think he brings us something a bit different we had previously been lacking and he’s pretty horrible on the pitch too, just like I used to be!”

Deegan has come in to the Shrimpers’ starting line-up for the three games and has helped them pick up a possible nine points from those matches.

Deegan was snapped up on a three month contract.

But, despite his fine start, Brown will not be yet be tempted in to holding talks about a longer deal.

“It’s still early days and that’s plenty of time where that’s concerned,” said Brown.

“We have him on a three month deal already and there’s still a long way to go.”

Deegan originally impressed boss Brown when on trial with Blues during pre-season.

But due to a large number of midfielders already being at the club he was not offered a deal at that stage.

And he was actually only handed a contract after two young full-backs, Jordan Williams and Emmanuel Adeyeye impressed while playing in Southend’s development side.

“I wanted to bring in a 23rd player and really it should have been a full-back because we were short of cover in that area,” said Brown.

“But I watched these youngsters and they were fantastic. I thought we could play them in the first team if it came to it.

“I told that to the chairman, said I would like to bring in Gary Deegan and thankfully it was all sorted out.

“He’s started well and he’s keeping everyone, including the backroom staff, on their toes.”