SOUTHEND United’s painful setback against Coventry City on Saturday means the Shrimpers have now suffered as many home defeats this season as they did in the whole of the previous campaign.

Jodi Jones’ deflected injury time effort handed the Sky Blues a 2-1 triumph at Roots Hall as Blues’ poor run of home results continued.

Chris Powell’s side have now been beaten four times in their seven outings at their own ground, taking just seven points from a possible 21.

In contrast, the Shrimpers have shone on the road and have won three successive away games for the first time since April 2015.

Blues have won four of their seven away games this season, meaning 13 of the 20 points they have accumulated this term have come on opposition territory.

Many connected with the club will be looking into the differing results and perhaps the Shrimpers are better suited to utilising a counter-attack style which is more likely to prove beneficial on the road.

But delve a little deeper into the fixtures and it could just be that Blues have faced tougher opponents at home than they have on the road.

The statistics certainly back up that theory as the average League placing of teams visiting Roots Hall this season is currently 12.31, while the average League placing of the clubs the Shrimpers have gone to is 19.80.

Blues have now also lost all five of their games against teams in the top 10 this term with Fleetwood Town, in 11th, the highest ranked side they have beaten so far.

The Shrimpers’ other five wins have come against clubs in the bottom 11 which suggests the problem may be down to dealing with better opposition rather than playing at home.

However, both of those trends continued with a painful defeat to Coventry City at the weekend.

The clash lacked quality at times but it was certainly not short of controversy.

The Sky Blues should have taken an early lead when Tom Davies’ close range header was not given despite being at least two yards over the goal-line before being cleared by Theo Robinson.

Moments later, Ben Coker could easily have been shown a second yellow card in an incident which ultimately led to the left wing-back being taken off at half-time.

By that point, Blues were lucky to just be one goal down but midway through the second half Coventry had a let off of their own as Davies was somehow shown just a yellow card for a shocking late challenge on Sam Mantom.

However, the Shrimpers brushed aside that frustration to equalise in fine fashion when Tom Hopper again displayed his tremendous talents to bag his seventh goal of the season.

In doing so, Hopper showed just why Blues need him on the pitch as much as possible.

But his latest effort ultimately went unrewarded as Powell’s side endured an agonising end to the encounter.

The first setback came 11 minutes from time when Simon Cox was shown the first red card of his career after being cautioned twice in quick succession.

The second booking was perhaps a little harsh but the striker was ultimately punished for making a needless challenge.

Coventry made use of their extra man to increase the agony on the Shrimpers as Jones’ low effort deflected off of Michael Turner before squirming into the back of the North Bank net.

That end of the pitch has certainly not been kind to Blues in recent times and they have now gone 10 games without scoring in that goal themselves.

Not since Theo Robinson’s goal against MK Dons in April have the Shrimpers scored in front of the opposition fans. Blues - who now sit 12th in the table - will be desperate for that to end against Walsall tomorrow night.

And, with tough looking away trips to Sunderland and Barnsley fast approaching, the Shrimpers will be determined to show they have what it takes to match the top teams in League One and also become one themselves.