PHIL Brown heads into his 250th game in charge of Southend United tomorrow insisting he will never stop fighting to turn things around.

Brown takes his Shrimpers side to Northampton Town on the back of six defeats in seven games.

But the 58-year-old - who has been in charge of Blues since March 2013 - remains determined to turn things around.

“Given everything going on you could say it’s my toughest time but I won’t ever stop looking at sixth position and I’ll never throw the towel in,” said Brown.

“If I was a boxing coach I would never throw the towel in and if I was a boxer I wouldn’t want my coach to do it either.

“It’s not nice at the moment but I’m still enjoying working for Southend United and Ron Martin and long may that continue.”

Blues’ run of poor results has seen them slip to 17th in the League One standings, just four points above the relegation zone.

And Brown knows his team should be far higher in the standings.

“At the moment we’re below midway and it’s not acceptable given the constraints the chairman provided me with at the start of the season,” said Brown.

“I understand that and the players fully understand the job in hand.

“It’s about pressure and bottle and whoever can handle that will come out on top on Saturday.”

Brown is keen to see a significant improvement and also wants to start strengthening his squad in the transfer window.

“I’m meeting with a player today but whether we can get him signed up in time for Saturday is a question which needs to be answered,” said the Shrimpers boss.

“I’m also talking to a striker from a club not far from us but that would be a loan.

“There will be movement in the transfer window both in and out but it’s the mentality I’m after, not just better players.

“Sometimes you need someone with a different mentality to the group that you’ve got and hopefully that will lead you towards the right end of the table.

“But I’m focusing all my attention on Saturday’s game because one win can suddenly change people’s perceptions.”

Blues will again be without captain Anton Ferdinand (knee) this weekend, but Brown hopes to have the defender back in a week to 10 days.

John White (foot) and Michael Timlin (ankle) are both rated 50/50, but Michael Turner is available.