SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown could not hide his disappointment after his Shrimpers side finished the League One season in seventh.

Stephen McLaughlin’s first half strike secured Blues a 1-0 win against Bury at Roots Hall yesterday.

But Millwall’s 4-3 win at Bristol Rovers saw the Lions finish a point clear of Southend, much to the frustration of Brown.

“The easiest word to come out with right now is disappointment but it’s the disappointment of the last four or five games really, not this one,” said Brown.

“We got ourselves into a good position to finish sixth but lost a few games and handed the initiative back to Millwall.

“When their game went to 3-3 we had a five minute spell where we thought we had done it and all the supporters were right on the edge of their seats.

“But Millwall got the goal they needed and we’ve just missed out which is frustrating to say the least.

“We’ve gone through every possible emotion in this 90 minutes and it’s been like that this season, “We’ve gone from the relegation zone to the brink of the play-offs and it really hurts to miss out.”

However, despite his obvious disappointment, Brown was also pleased by how his side recovered from a poor start to the season.

And he now wants to take that progress into next season.

“After the first 12 games we were in the relegation zone but from the last 34 we got 60 points and we need to carry that on now,” said Brown.

“We have to try and hold on to as many players as we possibly can and keep the nucleus of this squad together.

“We’ve made progress this season and we’re moving in the right direction.

“We’re 13 points better off this year and I’ll be talking to the chairman, staff and players in the next 48 hours.

“Hopefully they will be positive discussions and we can have another real go at it next season.”

But, before that, Blues will need to get over the disappointment of missing out on the play-offs.

And Brown admitted it was only natural to reflect on what might have been.

“We can talk all day about little things that have gone against us this season if you want to,” said Brown.

“The late goal we let in against Bolton springs to mind and so does the penalty we didn’t get at Millwall.

“You automatically think about that and it shows the fine margins that exist at this level.

“But the bottom line is we didn’t quite do enough.”

However, Brown was still keen to thank the Shrimpers supporters for their backing as more than 9,000 fans attended yesterday’s game.

“The fans here are first class and I thank them for their support here and all season,” said Brown.

“I’m sure they were nervous tracking what was going on during the course of the afternoon, just like we all were.

“But I feel the players showed they can play under pressure by how they performed.

“We will need that from minute one next season though and not from the middle of October.”