SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown believes new signing Ryan Inniss is the centre-back the Shrimpers have been crying out for.

The 21-year-old, who is 6’5’’ inches tall, has joined Blues on loan from Crystal Palace until the end of the season.

And Brown expects the centre-back to make a big impression at Roots Hall.

“We’ve been crying out for strong, commanding header of the ball in the penalty box and we have one in Ryan now,” said Brown.

“We have Anton (Ferdinand) as well so I’m very pleased to have them both in place.

“Ryan is somebody we have been tracking for about a year now.

“He has experience of playing at this level having been with Port Vale last season and he’s very vocal both in the changing room and on the pitch which is good.

“I’m looking forward to working with him plus we also have Adam Barrett, Adam Thompson and Jakub Sokolik so there’s real competition for places which is exactly what we want.

“We also have Michael Timlin and Anthony Wordsworth coming back next week to bolster our options in midfield.”

Inniss, who represented England at youth level, has spent time out on loan with Cheltenham Town, Luton Town, Gillingham, Yeovil and Port Vale, totalling 36 appearances.

However, Brown was unable to complete deals for any other of his transfer targets.

“I would liked to have signed a striker but it's been really tough,” said Brown.

“The power seems to be going away from the clubs and it's more about agents. 

“We had a list of 12 strikers we were interesting in signing at the start of the month and we’ve gone right to the bottom of that now."

Blues can still sign players without a club