SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown hailed his side’s improvements following tonight’s 2-0 win against local rivals Colchester in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Goals from Josh Wright and Theo Robinson saw the Shrimpers triumph at Roots Hall.

And Brown was pleased to see Blues bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Yeovil Town in the FA Cup.

“The mentality and attitude was chalk and cheese to Saturday,” said Brown.

“It could have been 2-0 or 3-0 after five minutes and we should definitely have been three or four up by half-time.

“We applied ourselves from minute one and if we keep that mentality and approach we won’t be far off.”

The victory meant Blues made it through to the knock-out stage of the competition.

And Brown was also delighted to see summer signing Michael Turner finally make his competitive debut for the club after recovering from a hamstring injury.

“Michael will be a happy bunny tonight, “said Brown.

“It was great to see him playing and he hardly had to break sweat but I’m not sure if that’s down to his experience or the opposition.

“We hope to have a behind doors game on Friday now that he will be looking to play 90 minutes in.”