SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown felt a lack of experience was to blame for the Shrimpers’ shock 2-1 defeat to Accrington Stanley at Roots Hall on Saturday.

Blues were well below their best as they suffered their first setback since mid-December.

And Brown put the reverse down to naive play from his side.

“When you analyse why and how we lost this game I think it’s down to a bit of naivety if I’m honest,” said the Shrimpers boss.

“I’m not levelling that at the goalkeeper (Ted Smith) by any stretch of the imagination but it looked as though Accrington had more nous than us out there.

“The two young lads at the back, Adam Thompson and Jerome Binnom-Williams, have warranted keeping their place with how they have been playing and the clean sheets they have been getting.

“But I thought we looked naive in our defending and Terry Gornell, who we tried to sign a couple of years ago, showed his knowledge of the game up against them.”

Blues’ poor defending saw them trail 2-0 midway through the second half before substitute Barry Corr got them back in to the game with a close range header.

But the Shrimpers very rarely threatened in attack and that also frustrated Brown.

“We lacked a bit of knowledge and there was a lack of quality in the final third too,” said Brown “We got back into it with a goal from Barry Corr and I was expecting a barnstorming finish after that.

“But we just never really seemed to get to the level of the game and it was very disappointing.

“I wouldn’t say it was a case of going back to the drawing board now but it is a case of getting back to basics and making sure we defend in the right way.”