GARY Deegan has signed a two year contract to stay at Southend United.

The deal, which was first revealed in Echosport, keeps the tough tackling midfielder at Roots Hall until 2017.

And Blues boss Phil Brown is delighted to have kept hold of Deegan, who made 26 appearances for the Shrimpers last season.

“Gary’s put pen to paper which is good news for me,” said Brown.

“It means we have great competition for places in that midfield with Ryan Leonard, Anthony Wordsworth, Will Atkinson, Michael Timlin and Jack Payne all vying for selection.

“It forces us to play in a certain way but where Deegan is concerned he showed everybody what type of character he is last season.

“He puts his foot in, he wears his heart on his sleeve and hopefully we will get all that along with the quality footballer he can be.”