SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown feels winning the League Two play-off final with Wycombe Wanderers will stop his side being dismantled.

Brown’s side won a dramatic clash against the Chairboys 7-6 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time.

But the Shrimpers chief insisted several players could well have left had the result gone the wrong way at Wembley.

“If we had lost I think we would’ve lost quite a few players to tell you the truth and we would’ve had to have started all over again,” said Brown.

“We have Michael Timlin and Barry Corr, who are massive players for us, out of contract and it would’ve been harder to keep them in League Two.

“It would've been hard to keep Daniel Bentley in League Two and one or two others as well, so it’s a hugely important result for many different reasons.

“And winning this game is right up there with anything else I’ve ever achieved in football.”

However, despite his delight at winning the game to make sure of promotion, Brown admitted he was also hurting for Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth.

The two managers watched the penalty shoot out side by side and the Blues boss thought it was a fantastic gesture for the Chairboys chief to suggest.

“Gareth Ainsworth is a man with real dignity and class and he showed that again,” said Brown.

“When it got to the penalties he said why don’t we watch them together?

“You can go crazy in penalty shoot-outs and lose that bit of dignity at times. But I thought how he acted said a lot about the fantastic qualities he has as a person and I really do feel for him because it's an awful way to lose and end your season.”

In stark contrast, it was a stunning way for the Shrimpers to complete their season.

And it went their way despite top scorer Barry Corr not being among his team’s penalty takers.

“It was Barry’s decision to be one of the later penalty takers and there was probably a bit of a scar there from the miss against Stevenage,” said Brown, who felt his side should have been awarded a spot-kick for a foul on Corr in the second half.

“But Barry has been awesome all season and is one of the main reasons why we’ve gone up.”