SOUTHEND Saxons’ head coach Josh Ward was keen to remain upbeat following his side’s 25-5 defeat at Tring.

The setback was Saxons’ third in succession.

But Ward still felt there were plenty of positives to emerge from the game.

“We were actually quite pleased with the performance and there were some incredible individual and collective displays,” said Ward.

“There were some new faces and some new combinations because of injuries but we couldn’t quite take the opportunities that came our way.

“We lacked a bit of accuracy in the final third and if we had had that then who knows what might have happened.

“Tring are a good side but we didn’t look out of place against them and while I’m never normally one to talk about the officials we did feel as though we were on the wrong side of a lot of the decisions.”

Blue Newton bagged Southend’s only try of the game on Saturday with Saxons remaining second from bottom in the standings.

And they will be desperate to get back to winning ways when they host Towcestrians, the only team below them in the table, a week on Saturday.

“It’s obviously a big game and one we have time to prepare for,” added Ward.

Southend: Barton, Navarro, Griffiths, Short, O’Brien, Navas, Sprangers, Wagstaff, Morrison, Read, Wood, Newton, Campbell-Webster, Forster-Knight, Maggiolo.

Replacements: Reeman, Archer & Dobson