Down but not out (From Echo)

Down but not out - but Paul Sturrock expects an improvement from Southend United

4:03pm Monday 14th May 2012 in Blues By Chris Phillips

SOUTHEND United manager Paul Sturrock insisted his side were down but not despondent following their 1-0 defeat at Crewe in the first leg of the play-off semi-final on Saturday.

Adam Dugdale converted the only goal of the game at Gresty Road.

But Sturrock feels Blues are capable of turning things around when the teams meet again in the second leg at Roots Hall on Wednesday.

“If we bring our show to the second leg and play the way we know we can then we’ll get through,” said Sturrock.

“We need to be thoughtful as well as positive, which is a hard combination, but we’re still in the tie and that’s the most important thing.”

However, Sturrock is demanding a huge improvement against the Railwaymen second time around.

The Blues boss was disappointed by his team’s display at Gresty Road.

And he felt Crewe deserved to win the game.

“The final scoreline was fair and we just didn’t turn up,” said Sturrock. “We were a million miles away from the way we have been playing in the last few weeks and we were sloppy.

“We were better after Crewe scored but we were doing things we don’t normally do and it was disappointing to see.”

FULL STORY IN MONDAY'S ECHO