BEING the youngest of the family helped Southend United’s Gary Deegan become the midfield warrior he is today, according to his brother Jonathan.

Him and his other brother Mark used to enjoy physical battles with Gary when playing football as young kids.

But that all stopped when Gary learnt to kick back!

“Gary’s the youngest of three brothers so as you can imagine we used to give him a rough time when we were all kids,” recalled Jonathan, 33.

“When Gary got to about 11 though he started to kick us back quite hard so we soon had to stop all that!

“However, it was probably that upbringing that helped to make him the player he is now so we did it all for his own benefit really!”

Gary has become a firm fans favourite with his crunching challenges and levels of aggression in the centre of the park.

And Jonathan, who lives in Dublin, cannot wait to tune in to watch the play-off against Stevenage this Sunday.

“Work commitments make it really hard for me to come and watch Gary play which is a shame but I’ll certainly be watching these games against Stevenage on Sky,” said Jonathan.

“I normally follow the games on Soccer Saturday or on Twitter and it’s great hearing Gary has been doing well.

“He’s had a few knock backs in the past but it does sound as though he’s got himself going again and that he’s got that aggression back in his game which he needs.

“I’m sure Southend will make it through to the final and I’ll definitely come over to Wembley if that happens.”

Gary is likely to play a key part as Blues bid to secure promotion via the play-offs.

But he originally started to shine in football playing as a striker.

“He used to score an incredible number of goals playing for St. Columbans and would get on average about three goals every time he played,” said Jonathan.

“It was only when we started to play for Shelbourne when he was a bit older than he started to play in midfield.

“He was a big fan of Roy Keane and that’s probably why it happened.”

Gary impressed enough while playing in Ireland to earn a move to Coventry City before he also lined up for Northampton Town prior to signing for the Shrimpers last August.

Since then, Gary has become something of an iconic figure with his distinctive beard which Jonathan is quite a fan of.

“I quite like the beard and I’m jealous I can’t grow one like it because I’m in the army,” laughed Jonathan.

“I’m not too sure about that hair cut he’s got at the moment but the beard’s great and I understand it’s quite popular too!”