A STRONG Southend United side were seen off 1-0 by Leyton Orient in a behind closed doors friendly on Friday.

The Shrimpers included Adam Barrett and John White in their starting line up, along with trialist winger Zavon Hines.

But Blues boss Phil Brown felt the game was marred by some bad decisions by the referee.

“I think for games like this the home club get in a local referee who obviously knows them well and that certainly showed,” said Brown.

“Some of the decisions were nothing short of scandalous and it marred the game really if I’m honest.

“It was a test for the players to keep their discipline and sometimes that can happen in football but it was still a worthwhile exercise for us.”

All of Blues’ starting line-up - apart from promising young midfielder Joe Bedford - had featured in Southend’s first team this season.

But many of them have found themselves out of favour in recent weeks.

And Brown was happy to see them back in action ahead of a busy schedule for his side.

“We had a lot of players who were in need of a game which is exactly why we had the game put on,” said Brown.

“Quite a few of the players had gone a little while without playing so we needed them to get that match sharpness back again.

“We have a lot of important games coming up in quite a short space of time and the whole squad is going to be needed in that time, especially as we have Ryan Inniss, David Mooney and Ben Coker all out injured.

“We need those coming in to be fit and raring to go and that’s why this game was important for us.”

However, attacking midfielder Jack Bridge was unable to figure against the O’s as he was forced out with conjunctivitis.

“Jack couldn’t play and with something like that it’s important we keep him away from the group until he’s better because it can be contagious,” said Brown.

“Hopefully he won’t be away for too long because we want as many players available as possible.

“But his absence gave us a chance to have another look at Joe Bedford in the midfield.

“He’s coming on really well at the moment and this was another good, competitive game for him to be involved in.”

Southend United: Smith, White, Sokolik, Barrett, Kyprianou, O’Neill, Bedford, King, McGlashan, Williams, Hines