THE MARGIN of Southend United’s defeat at Wigan Athletic would have hurt anyone connected with the Shrimpers on Saturday.

But the manner of the 4-1 reverse at the DW Stadium was arguably even tougher to take.

Blues were certainly up against a strong side, arguably the best they have come up against this season.

But they made it far too easy for the table-topping Latics who cruised to arguably their most comfortable victory of the campaign as they continued their pursuit of promotion back into the Championship.

The Shrimpers never looked like being able to trouble their hosts and seemed to be lacking in belief as they strived to secure an unexpected success.

In truth, Wigan could and should have won by a far greater margin as only the woodwork, poor finishing and a couple of saves from Ted Smith stopped them adding to their four goals.

That made it five games without a victory for the Shrimpers who have now triumphed just once in eight games and three times in the last 15 matches.

Twelve points have been taken from the last 45 on offer and the loss of form now has to be of extreme concern.

Of course, Blues remain 13th in the League One table and it goes without saying that is to be considered a good achievement on the back of last season’s promotion.

But, after getting themselves into the race for the play-offs, the Shrimpers seem to have run out of steam.

Yet, rather worryingly, this is now more than just a small blip as the poor run of results has been spread across a number of months and Blues have already suffered more league defeats in 2016 than in the whole of 2015.

Adding to that, since the start of the new year only five teams in the whole of the division have picked up less points than Southend.

And somehow or other the rot must be stopped or next season becomes one to start worrying about.

First and foremost, Phil Brown’s future at the club must be resolved as the ongoing uncertainty, amid speculation of a return to Bolton Wanderers, is extremely unhelpful.

Brown feels the uncertainty has played a part in the loss of form and one win in eight games since Neil Lennon departed the Macron Stadium certainly backs up that view.

But Blues had only actually won twice in the seven games preceding the change of management at the Trotters so the Shrimpers were already on the slide before the speculation started.

That said, it has certainly not been helped by the situation and, with that in mind, it was probably a little naïve and unwise to stay at the hotel at Bolton’s ground on Friday night.

The decision saw speculation intensify and led to Brown facing more questions he could easily have avoided if Southend had opted to stay somewhere else.

However, it is not just Brown facing an uncertainty future at the club.

Goalkeeper Daniel Bentley looks destined to depart and, with that in mind, Smith was selected for the first time this season.

It was the toughest possible test for the youngster but he was certainly not to blame for any of Wigan’s goals and certainly deserves another opportunity to show what he can do.

Further forward, top goalscorer Jack Payne was also selected among the substitutes after also failing to sign a new contract.

He was introduced into the action four minutes before the break but Blues were still unable to register a single shot on target.

Such a scenario only added to the frustration of the Shrimpers’ supporters who travelled in big numbers again on Saturday and whose anguish is starting to grow.

It will therefore come as a huge relief that there are only two games left to go this season.

But big decisions will soon need to be made to ensure the next campaign does not kick off the way this term has ended.

Brown must decide whether or not he will remain at Roots Hall and, if he does, then he will face his most important summer of recruitment so far as Southend seek the signings they need to ensure this time next season is far more enjoyable.