SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown was left ruing his side’s bad luck following a 1-0 defeat at table-topping Shrewsbury Town.

The Shrimpers wasted a succession of goalscoring opportunities in the second half as their winless streak extended to eight games.

But Brown felt Blues should have taken something from the game.

“In the second half I had a lot to be proud of,” said the 58-year-old.

“I thought we peppered their goal with some good football and could have scored three or four times.

“We’re lacking belief and possibly a little bit of understanding of what it takes to win a game of football because of the naivety and youthfulness of the team.

“But Shrewsbury are riding their luck at the moment and we’re not, that’s the only difference.”

The League One leaders bagged what proved to be the only goal of the game when Jon Nolan fired home midway through the first half.

And Brown was disappointed with the manner of Shrews’ goal.

“I was hurting at half-time after conceding the goal in the manner we did,” said Brown.

“I’ve got a young right-back (Elvis Bwomono) but he’s learning the game.

“I’m not holding him responsible but he was a little bit on the narrow side for the goal and an experienced full-back would probably have been further wide.”

The defeat saw the Shrimpers slip down to 19th in the table.

But Brown remains confident the season will soon get back on track.

“We have to keep doing the right things and it will turn round, there’s no doubt about that,” said Brown, whose side host Northampton Town.

“I though Elvis, Dru (Yearwood) and Harry (Kyprianou) were magnificent but it might be time to leave one or two of them out.

“However, if I’m replacing them with experience then the experienced players have got to step up to the plate.

“I’m an unlucky manager at the moment and that’s no good for me because unlucky managers get sacked.”