SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown was disappointed with his first half flops following yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient.

Blues failed to impress during the first minutes against the O’s at Roots Hall as their final pre-season friendly ended in disappointment.

And Brown felt those who started against the East Londoners could now have worked their way out of his plans for this Saturday’s League One opener at Fleetwood Town.

“I’m not naming my team for Fleetwood just yet but not too many of the players in the first half staked a claim to start on Saturday,” said Brown.

“Results in pre-season don’t matter but the first half performance wasn’t acceptable.

“We were much better in the second half and, in the end, we had three great chances to go and win the game.”