I HAVE had the perfect pick-me-up from relegation this week by becoming a father for the first time.

Harrison Barrett came into the world at Southend Hospital on Tuesday, weighing 7lbs 13oz.

I'm happy to report that both he and my wife Clare are doing really well and he's certainly a good size, so we could have another centre back on our hands here!

I will let him choose who he wants to support but let's just say I will be pushing him in the direction of Southend United.

It seemed like Clare had been pregnant forever so we're delighted he's now with us, but I certainly wasn't quite so happy at the start of the week when we were relegated back into League One.

The 3-1 defeat to Luton wasn't the best and I think we let the fans down in all honesty.

They have backed us in big numbers this season and have been brilliant.

I'm just gutted that we couldn't give them more to cheer about.

We are all devastated. The dressing room was like a morgue after the game and it's a horrible feeling.

But we still have one game to go and I want us to go out on a high. I know that we've sold 3,000 tickets for the Southampton game on Sunday and will again be receiving superb support.

We owe it to the fans to put on a good performance and end a campaign with a positive result.

There can be no denying that it's been a frustrating and disappointing year and I think it was summed up on Saturday.

We should be beating teams like Luton at home, but our form at Roots Hall hasn't been good enough and that's one of the major reasons we have struggled.