SOUTHEND United’s poor and problematic start to the season continued with a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

The Shrimpers headed into the contest looking to bounce back after suffering successive League setbacks.

But familiar frailties again proved their undoing and enabled Shrewsbury to record their first success of the campaign.

As a result, Blues have now suffered five defeats in eight League One outings this season and currently sit 18th in the standings with just seven points to their name.

The latest loss, at the Montgomery Waters Meadow, was also arguably the most frustrating so far as the Shrimpers produced a below par performance.

But the game could have gone in an entirely different direction had an early call from referee Christopher Sarginson gone the way of the visitors.

For, with just two minutes on the clock, Shrews defender Luke Waterfall appeared to pull down the Shrimpers’ Tom Hopper when the striker was heading towards goal.

Sarginson originally put the whistle in his mouth but then seemed to change his mind and controversially opted to wave play on.

In doing so, Sarginson avoided having to make a difficult early decision in opting what colour card to show the defender.

But that cannot be used as an excuse for what followed from Blues.

Just moments later, Shrews broke the deadlock as Alex Gilliead gave a glimpse of what was to follow as he sped his way past Jason Demetriou before teeing up Greg Docherty to score.

Demetriou, who came back into the team after being away on international duty with Cyprus, has been among Blues’ most consistent performers since signing back in 2016.

But on Saturday he endured his most problematic afternoon in a Shrimpers shirt so far as Gilliead’s pace caused him all kinds of problems.

That ultimately resulted in the Shrews going in front before a crucial 30 minute period decided the outcome of the contest.

During that spell, Blues bossed the game and enjoyed prolonged periods of pressure and possession.

However, as has often been the case this season, when the chances came along they were not converted, with Simon Cox and Tom Hopper both failing to hit the back of the net.

Then, another reoccurring theme reared its ugly head as the Shrimpers again conceded from a set piece situation.

This time Lee Angol fired home from a Shaun Whalley corner, meaning Blues have now been beaten eight times from dead ball situations in eight League games this season, a tally which equates to 62 per cent of the goals Southend have conceded this term.

Eliminating those errors will therefore be incredibly important moving forward and a frustrated Chris Powell will be desperately seeking other ways to get his side’s season back on track.

Injuries and suspensions clearly are not helping but Blues do still have enough at their disposal to be performing at a far higher standard.

Right now, the Shrimpers seem too easy and nice to play against and seem to lack the ruthless streak required to consistently succeed.

Powell will be looking at ways to change that and may need to look at changing formations in a bid to make Blues harder to break down.

Plenty of players have been chopped and changed in the first few games of the season, with 30 different names having already appeared on the teamsheet.

But, now could be the time to try something different in terms of systems with perhaps a 5-3-2 featuring Ben Coker and Demetriou as wing-backs the most appealing as both have the engines and attacking prowess to perform in that role.

The formation would also give Blues more defenders and perhaps even more height to deal with set piece deliveries while also allowing Powell to give Stephen McLaughlin a rest.

Harry Bunn could also be used more centrally while the Shrimpers would be able to line-up with two strikers.

Who those forwards should be still seems to dominate the majority of discussions on social media.

However, right now it is the other end of the pitch which is costing Blues points.

Taylor Moore made a good first impression but Southend must quickly discover a mean-streak to stop this becoming anything other than a season of struggle.