SOUTHEND United midfielder Anthony Wordsworth extended his fine goalscoring streak by bagging a brace in a superb 3-0 win at MK Dons this afternoon.

Wordsworth’s double, which came after Simon Cox had fired Blues in front, made it five goals in seven games for the attacking midfielder.

And his latest efforts were enough for Blues to record their first victory on the road since winning at Sheffield United in mid-August.

Southend opened the scoring after just two minutes when a right wing corner from Wordsworth was only partially cleared before being knocked back into the path of Cox who turned to fire home a neatly taken left footed shot from close range, despite Dons’ appeals for offside.

The home-side hit back with former Southend loanee Ben Reeves shooting straight at Mark Oxley from 16 yards before the Shrimpers shot-stopper pulled off a stunning double save in the 14th minute.

Oxley dived full length to his right hand side to keep out Joe Walsh’s header and then recovered superbly to also parry away Darren Potter’s powerful effort from the resulting rebound.

After surviving the scares, Blues hit back to double their lead, with Wordsworth on target once again.

The midfielder picked up the ball after Will Atkinson had dummied Cox’s pass forward and drilled an impressive low, left footed shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net from 18 yards.

Moments later, Ryan Leonard saw a swerving long range shot parried to safety by Dons goalkeeper David Martin before play switched back to the other end of the field with Reeves sending a 20 yard free-kick inches wide of the left post.

The home-side then wasted an even clearer chance to score when Dean Bowditch fired wide of the right upright when clean through on goal.

After the break, Blues also wasted a good opportunity as Cox teed up Atkinson in front of goal but his effort was diverted wide of the target by the legs of Martin.

In reply, Reeves then saw another shot pushed wide of the left post by Oxley before the Shrimpers hit back with a sliding Stephen McLaughlin just failing to connect with the ball after Atkinson had flicked on Jason Demetriou’s right wing cross.

However, Dons – who have yet to win at home this season - still continued to threaten with Samir Carruthers’ having a low shot smothered by Oxley at the second attempt before Bowditch fired inches over from 25 yards.

In a bid to freshen things up, Blues boss Phil Brown responded by bringing on Marc-Antoine Fortune for Nile Ranger who seemed to be limping as he left the pitch.

Jermaine McGlashan then also entered the action in place of Cox before the Shrimpers sealed their victory in stoppage time when Wordsworth curled home an impressive free-kick from 20 yards.