PAUL Sturrock was a happy man after seeing Southend United secure their best start to a season in 21 years with a 2-0 triumph at Macclesfield Town.

Not since Blues collected 37 points from their first 16 games in 1990 have they kicked off a campaign in such fine form.

And the latest hard fought victory delighted Sturrock.

“A lot of top teams have come to Macclesfield and not won this season so I'm very pleased with this result,” said Sturrock.

“It's a very difficult place to come but I thought in the end our victory was much deserved even though we did get a little bit sloppy for about 10 or 15 minutes just after we got our second goal.”

“But overall I was very pleased with the players and we had a different shape about ourselves which definitely seemed to work.”

Blues lined up with Bilel Mohsni and Ryan Hall either side of Liam Dickinson in attack as they stretched their unbeaten run to 10 matches.

The victory also pushed them back to the top of the table after Crawley Town were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Accrington Stanley.

However, Sturrock is refusing to get carried away.

“I'd rather be top than anywhere else but it's still only October and we have plenty of hard games coming up,” said the Scotsman.

“The first of those is against Oxford on Saturday and they won again at the weekend so that will be a real test because they're a good side.

“But we just need to keep on going and keep ourselves fresh for the challenge ahead.”