SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown let rip at his side’s defending and referee Peter Bankes following the Shrimpers 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe on Saturday.

Iron striker Paddy Madden bagged a brace to dump Blues out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle.

And Brown, who was sent to the stands late on, was left furious by Southend’s inability to deal with set pieces.

“It was exactly the same as last week and we didn’t defend corners properly,” said the 56-year-old.

“I’ve stuck with my centre halves and I’ve stuck with my goalkeeper too but maybe it’s time for a personnel change now.

“Two and half years I’ve been here and we’ve never had a problem defending set pieces during that time.

“But all of a sudden we can’t win the first ball or the second ball either and it’s bobbling around our six yard box.

“For me it’s about bottle and if you can’t handle balls coming into your penalty area as a centre half then you’re going to be in trouble.”

Brown’s frustrations also resulted in him being sent to the stands late on after appealing for a free-kick for a challenge made on David Worrall.

And the Blues boss was furious to be sent from the dug-out.

“It was just an absolute nonsense,” slammed Brown.

“I was appealing for a foul on the sidelines.

“I wasn’t swearing at the man I was just asking for a free-kick for a foul on Dave Worrall and it’s just a nonsense.

“I watch Match of the Day and thank god for the likes of Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger because they’re saying the same as us.

“The officials have got to man up.

“It was a poor performance from another official but I’m not bemoaning that in terms of the result.

“We lost because of how we defended.”

Brown also felt the introduction of Darius Henderson swayed the match in Scunthorpe’s favour.

But he was also keen to stress he had not told the Shrimpers defence to alter the way they played “We were on top until (Darius) Henderson came on lot of the supporters will be asking if what happened after that was down to me,” said Brown.

“I understand that but the bottom line is I don’t tell my defenders to change any one thing.

“Regardless of the game or the conditions I ask them to do the same thing whoever they’re playing.

“But we go on the back-foot, we go backwards and become very insecure which is disappointing.

“It’s time for a change.”