SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown heaped praise on West Ham striker Dimitri Payet after he bagged a stunning brace in the Hammers’ 3-2 win at Roots Hall on Saturday.

The £10.7million signing from Marseille dazzled on his debut for Slaven Bilic’s side in an entertaining encounter.

And Brown felt it was the Frenchman who enabled the visitors to come out on top, despite goals from Kevan Hurst and Jack Payne.

“Payet was just absolute quality and a real thorn in our side,” said the Blues boss.

“Both of his goals were top drawer and I ended up walking along to Slaven Bilic asking when he was going to be taking him off!

“Thankfully we aren’t going to be coming up against strikers like that in League One and he was certainly a huge factor in the game.

“But I thought we played well and there were lots of encouraging signs for us out there.

“There were also nearly 7,000 fans here and I’m really pleased for the club and chairman that was the case.”