SUBSTITUTE Dan Walker scored with his first touch to secure Southend United’s under 21 team a 1-1 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge this afternoon.

Walker – who turns 19 on Sunday - fired home midway through the second half just minutes after coming off the bench.

And Blues’ under 21 boss Kevin Maher was delighted to see the youngster get back among the goals.

“Dan had a bit of an injury at the start of the season but he showed a great willingness to get after the ball when he came on and did well,” said Maher.

“He took his goal well too and it was pleasing to see him get it.”

Blues included the fit-again Anthony Wordsworth and Anton Ferdinand in their starting line-up while Ryan Inniss also started after being released from prison.

And Maher was happy to see them all get much needed minutes under their belts.

“We had people coming back who got the minutes they needed and it was a good game for them to come in to because it was very competitive,” said Maher.

“We got out what needed but it’s hard for the players at times to be thrown in together like that in a shape they haven’t played in before.

“There’s probably a bit of leeway with them for that and what you want to see is the right attitude which I think we did out there.”

Dagenham, who included Paul Benson in attack, started strongly and Blues goalkeeper Ted Smith did well to deny Chris Assombalonga – the brother of former Southend loanee Britt – twice in quick succession early on.

Moments later, the Shrimpers seemed to come close to being awarded a penalty when Harry Phillips went to ground in the box.

But, despite initially putting the whistle in his mouth, the referee waved play on and Dagenham made the most of the let off by breaking down the other end of the pitch to open the scoring with a neat close finish from their left winger.

Blues stepped things after the break with trialist striker Marc-Antoine Fortune and Jakub Sokolik both going close to scoring with headers.

However, Dagenham soon hit back with Smith doing well to push away a 20 yard free-kick before Walker was brought on to replace Ferdinand just past the hour mark and immediately brought Blues back level.

The striker was picked out by a deflected pass from Fortune and composed himself well before firing a low, right footed shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

The equalising effort ensured the game ended even but only after Smith made an impressive double save right at the death.

Blues, who lost Renei Batlokwa and Phillips with knee injuries during the game, are back in action at Exeter City next Tuesday.

Southend United: Smith, Bwomono (Jordan Williams 46), Inniss (Matsuzaka 90), Ferdinand (Walker 62), Sokolik (Salami 81), Kyprianou, O’Neill, Wordsworth (Bedford 62), Bridge, Batlokwa (Phillips 5 (Cotton 46)), Fortune Subs not used: Bexon & Coutts