SOUTHEND United boss Chris Powell felt his side ‘let themselves and the supporters down’ during this afternoon’s 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town.

The Shrimpers slumped to a third setback in succession after conceding twice in the first half against the Shrews.

And a visibly dejected Powell held no punches with his assessment of the performance.

“We’ve let ourselves down and we’ve let our supporters down who have come all this way,” said the Blues boss.

“I’m not happy and I’m at a bit of a loss with how we started the game.

“We’re playing a side who haven’t won a game so we wanted to get them edgy but we actually gave them a leg up.”

The Shrews opened the scoring after just five minutes with Greg Docherty firing in them front before Blues enjoyed their best period of the game.

However, the visitors were unable to make that pressure count.

“We started playing and became the better team but I’m saying it too often that we’re playing good football and not getting anything,” said Powell.

“All that doesn’t count for anything when you lose and we have to be more ruthless.

“We have to take our chances when they come.

“Alright, they’ve made a miraculous block to stop it becoming 1-1 but, I’m sorry, we have to make situations like that count.

“We’re a resilient side who always bounce back but we haven’t done that and can’t carry on.

“It was the last minute against Peterborough and Charlton and today it was the last minute of the first half.”

As a result, the Shrimpers now sit 18th in the standings with seven points from eight games.

And Powell is desperate to climb the League One table.

“All this talk about top half, top 10, top six – forget that and put it to bed,” said the 49-year-old.

“Right now we’ve got to focus on getting off this slippery slope.

“It’s where we’re at and we have to deal with it.

“There’s no hiding place and we have to be brave so all I can say is bring on Fleetwood.”