DAVID Worrall has revealed he could have been convinced to stay at Southend United had he been offered a new contract sooner in the season.

The 25-year-old winger, who had been with the Shrimpers for the past two seasons, has rejected the opportunity to remain at Roots Hall.

Worrall insists things could have worked out differently if Blues had shown more desire to keep him.

But the club insist offers were made to him via his agent during the course of the season.

“It’s been a tough decision for me to make but my mind was made up by how late Southend offered me a deal,” said Worrall.

“It was playing on my mind coming into the final stages of last season and I was a bit gutted I didn’t get offered anything sooner.

“I know Southend have done things late with other players as well but I didn’t get offered a contract until the start of May.

“By that time I had decided my time was up and that I needed to move on.

“But if the offer of the new contract had been made sooner then I would probably still be staying with Southend for another couple of seasons.”

However, Blues’ chief executive Steve Kavanagh said contract offers had been made to Worrall’s agent far earlier in the season.

“I’m surprised by the suggestion that we made a late contract offer to David,” said Kavanagh.

“We made contract offers during the course of the season via David’s agent who rejected all of them.

“I think David should talk to his agent more.”

Worrall, who is now being tracked by both Bury and Millwall, made 84 appearances during his spell with the Shrimpers.

And he admitted to enjoying his two seasons in Essex, despite not always seeing eye to eye with manager Phil Brown.

“The gaffer and I had our moments but I respect him and he got the best out of me, especially in my first season,” said Worrall.

“That was the best season I’ve ever had in my whole career and getting promotion at Wembley like we did was something I’ll never forget.

“I got on really well with the chairman and there is also a great group of lads at Southend who I am really going to miss.

“I lived with some of them for pretty much two years and it’s going to be weird suddenly not seeing them anymore.

“That’s another reason why deciding to leave has been tough but I’m doing what I think is best for my career.”

Worrall chose to remain tight-lipped on his future but was keen to thank the Shrimpers supporters for their backing during his time at Roots Hall “I had a really good relationship with the fans and I would like to thank them for that,” said Worrall.

“Last season was a strange one for me being in and out of the team and I actually think I only got on at times because they were cheering for me!

“I’m not really sure what happened and why I wasn’t playing or even in the squad at times because I thought I was training well.

“It was tough to take, especially as the team weren’t doing that well at the time and that was certainly another factor in me deciding to leave.

“But Southend is a good club and I wish them all the very best for the future.”