FORMER Southend United assistant manager Paul Brush is backing Shaq Coulthirst to build on his winning goal against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

The on loan Tottenham Hotspur headed home the only goal of the game at Roots Hall to secure a 1-0 win for the Shrimpers.

And Brush, who was at the match as part of his current role in the coaching set up at White Hart Lane, feels a more confident Coulthirst can now start to hit the back of the net on a more regular basis.

“The goal will do Shaq the world of good and he has the right attributes and attitude to be able to build on it,” said Brush, who spent seven years as Steve Tilson’s number two at Roots Hall.

“It was great to see him get a header and it was a fantastic header too.

“He must have been at least 15 yards away as well so it was great to see and it was nice that it helped Southend to win the game too.”

Brush has now been with Spurs as a development coach for the past three seasons, He assists with the under 21s and the under 18s and also helps coach the under 15s with ex Queens Park Rangers striker Bradley Allen.

As well as that, Brush is in charge of keeping tabs on Tottenham’s eight players currently out on loan.

And he therefore remains in regular contact with Coulthirst, who did not know Brush was watching at the weekend.

“I was supposed to be watching one of our players who is with Middlesbrough playing at Charlton but I found out at 1pm he wouldn’t be playing so I came to Southend instead,” said Brush, 56.

“I speak to him at least twice a week and we have our analysts dissect every game he plays for Southend.

“I give him that feedback and I’ve also been talking to Phil Brown, Dave Penney and Graham Coughlan about him.

“It’s up to them if he plays or not but it’s good for our young players to get out and experience real life with small changing rooms in the wind on bobbly pitches.”

Coulthirst has now scored twice for the Shrimpers this term.

The 20-year-old had previously enjoyed stints with both Leyton Orient and Torquay United.

And his time with the Gulls made him highly sought after in the summer.

“Shaq started five games for Torquay and four of the teams he played against wanted to sign him,” said Brush.

“The fact he wanted to go to Torquay even though they were virtually already relegated said a lot about him too.”

Coulthirst has been with Tottenham for the past five seasons and was the club’s top scorer in the youth team just a couple of seasons ago.

He is now relishing being with the Shrimpers but will be given time to develop his game at White Hart Lane.

“All Shaq is thinking about is this season and doing well for Southend but the way Tottenham do things he will be given until he’s at least 22 or 23 before deciding if he can be in the first team here,” said Brush.

“It’s different to smaller clubs when decisions have to be made at a far younger age.

“You only have to look at Ryan Mason as an example of that.

“He’s been out on loan several times and has literally just made his Tottenham debut, aged 23.”