SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown is demanding a strong response from his side at Wigan Athletic tomorrow.

The Shrimpers’ four-match winning streak was ended by a 4-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

And Brown is now keen to see an improved display at the DW Stadium.

“I’ve seen a response in training from the weekend but it’s always the Saturday that’s key and we need to see a response in the game as well now,” said the Blues boss.

“Losing like we did at Doncaster was excruciating to take but before that we had won four in a row and, quite rightly, the players are feeling there isn’t much wrong.

“We do need to get to the bottom of what went wrong but Saturday will be another difficult game.”

Wigan have started the season strongly and currently sit second in the League One standings.

And Brown has been impressed by how well Paul Cook’s side have been playing so far this term.

“Cooky has gone back home with them really and there is lot to admire about the way they play,” said the Shrimpers chief.

“His teams like to play the right kind of football so it has the makings of a good game.

“But we’re going there with our own game plan which we will try and execute to make sure we get something from the game.”

However, the Shrimpers will be making the trip north with a shortage of defenders.

Ben Coker (broken leg), Anton Ferdinand (suspended), Rob Kiernan (knee) and Harry Kyprianou (thigh) will all be missing.

And Brown is toying with the idea of handing the fit-again Michael Turner his first start of the season after recovering from a hamstring injury.

“Michael has been on the training ground for 10 to 12 days now and he looks like he’s through,” said Brown.

“The last scan he had, which was five or six days ago, was clear but it would still be a high risk strategy to pick him “John White is an option and so is a back three but the players will have clarity by the end of training today.

“Mobility will be one of the key factors in my final decision because we have to cater for their movement and invention.”

Blues have Jason Demetriou available again after the right-back missed the last two games while on international duty with Cyprus.

However, winger Michael Kightly will still be missing with a hamstring injury.