SOUTHEND United boss Phil Brown has told goalkeeper Daniel Bentley to silence his Twitter trolls with a clean sheet against Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night.

Bentley was subjected to some stick on social media after his late error led to the Shrimpers having to settle for a 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

But Brown has ordered the shot-stopper to respond in the right way at Roots Hall tomorrow evening.

“The best way to silence your critics is to prove them wrong which in Dan’s case means keeping a clean sheet against Cheltenham,” said Brown.

“I have to say I was really disappointed to find out he had been getting stick from our fans on Twitter and it really did affect him on the coach on the way home.

“He’s a young man at the start of his career and he will learn that you need to be thick skinned.

“If you have Twitter then you open yourself up for this to happen and it’s very easy for people to hide behind their profile names and certain hashtags.

“If he was to close down his Twitter account then this wouldn’t happen but I just want Dan and all of our players to focus on their game.

“I know most of the fans are behind Dan and I would much rather any unhappy supporters directed their abuse towards me if that’s what they want to do.”