SOUTHEND United must be sick of the sight of Burton Albion by now.

Last season, the Brewers fought back from a goal behind with 10 men to condemn the Shrimpers to one of their most painful defeats of the entire campaign.

And, the year before that, Albion shattered Southend’s promotion dreams by beating them in the end of the season play-offs.

Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at the Pirelli Stadium therefore extended the frustratingly familiar run of tough setbacks to swallow against the East Staffordshire side, especially due to the manner of the game’s decisive goal.

Tom Naylor’s scuffed low shot was heading well wide of the right post until Luke Prosser got his legs in a muddle and diverted the ball into the back of his own net.

For Prosser it was his second own goal at the Pirelli Stadium in the space of five seasons.

And his latest unfortunate effort condemned Blues to their first defeat away from home this season.

On the balance of play, the setback was undeserved as Southend more than held their own against the League One leaders and Phil Brown’s side can certainly consider themselves unfortunate to have lost.

But, being entirely honest about the encounter, the Shrimpers probably did not really do enough to have won the game either.

Going forward, clear cut chances were in short supply for most of the match and, in terms of creativity, the game was probably best summed up by the fact Southend’s best chance was actually created by their goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.

Joe Pigott could well have done better with that opportunity but even then the ball was at an awkward height and it was certainly far from straight forward as Burton’s custodian Jon McLaughlin immediately rushed out to narrow the angle.

Pigott’s strike partner – David Mooney – also went close with a header late on but other than that the Shrimpers forwards were starved of quality service.

And that again highlighted the need for new additions in the final third.

Somehow or other, Blues need to be able to pose more of a threat for opposition defences and Saturday highlighted a lack of depth in the striking department.

With Noel Hunt struggling to stay fit and having been able to start just one of the last five games, the Shrimpers seem short of options in attack.

And that was shown up on Saturday when Brown was left with limited striking options among his substitutes.

With that in mind, Southend could well do with delving into the loan market to bring in another forward, especially as only three teams in the whole of League One have scored fewer goals than them so far this season.

That will certainly need to be worked on if Blues are to maintain or even improve their position in the top of the table.

Sitting 11th in the standings represents a good start for the Shrimpers but the manner of their matches shows they could still become more of a threat at this level.

Burton and Bury who were both promoted alongside Southend last season, currently occupy two of the top three positions.

And maybe the jump up to League One is not as big as originally anticipated.

Blues showed on Saturday they can more than match the top teams.

But while there should not be an overreaction to the defeat, lessons do need to be learned, especially going forward.

Because, with just a bit of tactical tinkering or a new signing to improve their potency, Southend are starting to show they could well secure more than just mid-table mediocrity this season.