SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown has confirmed he will make changes for tonight’s Checkatrade Trophy clash at Gillingham.

The Shrimpers will be without right-back Jason Demetriou, who is on international duty with Cyprus.

But Brown will also be altering other areas of his team.

“There are rules we have to stick to in this competition so I can’t make too many changes but I will certainly be making a few,” said the 58-year-old.

“Dru Yearwood, Michael Klass, Stephen McLaughlin, Amadou Ba and Theo Robinson are ones who immediately spring to mind and we’re obviously without Jason so there will be another change there.

“Elvis Bwomono, Dan Matsuzaka and Harry Kyprianou come into the equation where that is concerned so we’ll certainly be looking at one or two and it’s a chance for us to get that clean sheet mentality back, which is what we need.”

Brown slammed his side’s 3-3 draw at Gillingham on Saturday as ‘absolute rubbish’ and is keen to see a reaction in a competition he insists the club will take seriously this season.

“We want to do well in the Trophy this season and we’ll certainly be taking the games seriously,” said Brown.

“I know the club have done well in it over the years and it would be nice if we could have another good run in it this season.”

Goalkeeper Ted Smith is also in contention to start against Gills but midfielder Anthony Wordsworth is not yet ready to feature as he continues to recover from a hamstring problem.