SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown heaped praise on his unlikely goalscoring hero John White after the skipper netted the only goal of the game against Bristol Rovers at Roots Hall last night.

White’s 11th minute header sent the Shrimpers through to the area semi-final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

And Brown was delighted to see White bag just his second goal in the space of 12 years.

“John hasn’t got the best of ratios when it comes to goalscoring but he deserves that,” said the Blues boss.

“We’ve been on at it to get forward but he concentrates more on his defending than his attacking and maybe this will open the floodgates for him.

“John wasn’t even in the squad at the weekend because of a slight knock but he’s come in got the goal and a clean sheet which delights me.”

However, the victory was far from straight-forward as Shrimpers shot-stopper Daniel Bentley pulled off a string of fine saves in the second half.

“It was hard work and we had to stand up to the test,” added Brown.

“The mentality was right and I’m delighted with the score-line.

“Dan kept us in the game but the centre backs headed everything away too and I’m very pleased to be through to the semi-finals now.”