SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown hit back at suggestions he was to blame for Dion Donohue’s dismissal in Blues’ 4-0 win at Chesterfield.

Spireites boss Gary Caldwell felt Brown’s reaction to Donohue’s challenge on Jason Demetriou led to referee Ross Joyce brandishing a red card on the stroke of half-time.

But Brown was certain that was not the case.

“I thought it was a red card and I refute Gary’s comments that I tried to get the lad sent off,” said Brown.

“I empathise with teams that go down but that’s not my fault.”

Second from bottom Chesterfield must now win all three of their remaining matches and secure a significant swing in goal difference to avoid relegation.

But Caldwell felt their cause was not helped by the red card which he thought was shown due to Brown’s antics in the technical area.

“There were a lot of challenges that went unnoticed in the first half but that one got a lot of attention because of the reaction of the technical area,” said Caldwell.

“We would probably have done the same but the reaction definitely played a part and I have to say the referee was poor.

“There was a bad foul on Dion in the first half but that didn’t even get a yellow card so there wasn’t any consistency.

“I’m not going to use that as an excuse though, we need to look at ourselves.

"The sending off was a turning point but the goals we let in were far too easy and in those moments of crisis we were far too soft.

"That’s what disappointed me the most. “