GARY Deegan has urged Southend United not to waste their win against Portsmouth when they head to Cheltenham Town tonight.

The tough tackling midfielder helped the Shrimpers end a five match winless streak when they beat the Hampshire side 2-0 at Roots Hall on Saturday.

But Deegan insists that victory will count for very little unless Blues pick up another positive result at Whaddon Road this evening.

“We don’t want to waste the three points we got at the weekend and we want to use that win as a springboard now,” said the 26-year-old Irishman.

“We put in a gutsy and positive performance against Portsmouth and now we want to go and do the same at Cheltenham.

“It’s another tough game and a difficult place to go but we will concentrate on what we can do to try and get the result.”

Deegan will also be eager to impress as he strives to build on his fine league debut for the Shrimpers on Saturday.

The midfielder set the tone for the rest of the team with some crunching challenges in the centre of the park.

And, despite having not played much prior to teaming up with Blues in late August, Deegan is ready for more of the same tonight.

“It had been a while since I played 90 minutes like that but I’m fine to keep playing and I’ll get stronger too,” said Deegan.

“I also took one for the team at the weekend but I gave us good as I got and hopefully I’ll be involved again at Cheltenham.”

Blues go in to the game sitting eighth in the League Two table and Deegan again looks set to get the nod, with boss Phil Brown insisting he brings something different to the team.

“I think Gary gives us something that was missing last year,” said Brown.

“We did have Michael Timlin who can put his foot in but he was coming back from a broken leg.

“Sometimes you can miss a challenge and one or two will take a step back.

“Ryan Leonard is learning the game and Conor Clifford is too so they’re going to pick up yellow and red cards because of that.

“But Deegan has experience and he has a point to prove too because he almost went back to Ireland before coming here.”

Deegan signed a three month deal with the Shrimpers and will now be looking to turn that in to a more permanent deal.

Further performances like Saturday will help his cause and also make Blues harder to beat, according to Brown.

“If he can carry on from Saturday then we have a new resilience about us,” stressed the Blues boss.

“It’s what you need in abundance in League Two and I brought him in to the team to have that kind of influence on the game.”