ANTON Ferdinand believes the pain of Saturday’s drubbing at Rotherham will spur Southend United on against Plymouth Argyle tomorrow.

The Shrimpers host the Pilgrims at Roots Hall this weekend.

And Ferdinand insists Phil Brown’s side are desperate to bounce back after being seen off 5-0 by the Millers in their last outing.

“The hurt we suffered at Rotherham will get us through the Plymouth game,” said the defender.

“Nobody wants to lose like we did, it was disheartening and disappointing.

“This game is about putting things right, but we have to let our football do the talking rather than coming out and just speaking about it.

“That has to start on Saturday and we have to produce.”

And Ferdinand also believes a positive performance tomorrow would also make people forget about the disappointing defeat at Rotherham.

“I was always taught that if you have a bad game and win the next one then people will forget the bad one, so that’s the aim this weekend,” said Ferdinand.

“It’s a 46 game season, so don’t judge us on one game.

“We want to put things right and that’s what this game against Plymouth Argyle is all about for us.”

The Shrimpers were well below par at the New York Stadium and found themselves 3-0 down inside the opening 23 minutes of a one-sided encounter.

But Ferdinand has been boosted by the squad’s displays in training.

“It’s been a good week,” said the experienced defender.

“To get the defeat like we did so early on in the season is a real eye opener.

“However, we’ve had a week to work on things which needed to be worked on and I think we’ll be stronger for that.

“But in football there’s always another game to bounce back in and we want to make sure that’s exactly what we do against Plymouth this weekend.”

However, Ferdinand - who signed a two year deal with the Shrimpers in the summer after impressing last season - is expecting a tricky test against the Pilgrims.

Derek Adams’ side were promoted from League Two last term and saw off Charlton Athletic 2-0 last weekend, making them tricky opponents tomorrow.

“We’ve played two teams who were in the Championship last season and Saturday is one who have come up so it’s another hard game for us,” said Ferdinand.

“We’re looking forward to it though.

“It isn’t always going to be highs in football and Saturday was a low, but it’s all about the reaction now.”

And Ferdinand believes Blues have the togetherness to be able to recover from the setback.

“We have a fantastic group of players - that’s why I signed - and it’s probably the first changing room I’ve been in where there aren’t any egos,” said the former England under-21 international.

“We’ve got to put last Saturday to bed, it wasn’t us and we have to produce tomorrow now.