DAVE Penney looks set to join the back-room staff at Southend United, the Echo understands.

Blues boss Phil Brown has confirmed that a new chief scout should be starting at the club in the next fortnight.

And it is believed to be former Doncaster Rovers manager Penney who is the favourite for the role at Roots Hall.

“A new chief scout/head of recruitment should be starting in the next couple of weeks and he will hit the ground running,” said Brown.

“He has 15 years experience in the game and he'll be able to earmark certain targets.

“It will all move quickly from there I would imagine. There's probably a lot of nervous players out there at the moment waiting to see what will happen to them next season.”

Penney, 48, made 355 league appearances during his own playing career after spending time with Oxford United, Swansea City and Doncaster Rovers among others.

Penney then became manager of Donny and led them out of the Conference before also winning the Division Three with them in 2004.

Since then, Penney has bossed Darlington, Oldham Athletic and Bristol Rovers.