SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown insists Marc-Antoine Fortune still has a big part to play for the Shrimpers this season despite his recent lack of match action.

The Frenchman has played just 32 minutes in Blues’ last six outings.

But Brown says the Frenchman remains part of his plans.

“Marco is very much a part of things here and we’ve committed to him beyond the end of this season which shows that,” said the Shrimpers chief.

“He’s waiting for his time at the moment and he’s one of six strikers we have in the squad so there’s real competition for places.

“Nile (Ranger) has come back in and scored four in his last five games, Simon Cox has been playing well and Theo Robinson had been doing well off the bench so he warranted a start.

“But Marco definitely still has a part to play in our season.”

Fortune has bagged five goals in 32 appearances this term but was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic.

Brown opted to bring Frank Nouble on instead of Fortune in the closing stages.

And the Blues boss revealed that was down to a change of tactics.

“I only had one change left and I wanted us to try going more direct towards the end so I brought on Frank for his ability in the air,” said Brown.

“We hadn’t had much joy trying to pass our way through Charlton all afternoon so I wanted to try something different.

“We had already lost one change with John White going off injured and I brought Jermaine McGlashan on because he’s been making a real impact off the bench recently.

“But football is a game of fine margins and we saw that on Saturday.

“Frank should have scored with the header he had and that came from McGlashan’s cross so we were only about an inch away from the two subs combining to score a goal which would have kept us in the play-off places.

“If that goes in then everyone would praise the impact made by the subs but we have to move forward from that now.”

Blues will now be bidding to bounce back against Chesterfield on Friday.

But Brown is not yet sure if John White will be fit to face the Spireites after suffering a hip problem against Charlton.

“John, being the professional he is, was in at 7am on Sunday for treatment,” said Brown.

“But we’re not sure when he will be available just yet.”