THE new season felt just like the last for Southend United striker Simon Cox following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Blackpool at Roots Hall.

The Shrimpers were brushed aside by Simon Grayson’s side during a one-sided first half which saw the Tangerines score three times in quick succession.

And the manner of the setback reminded Cox of the misery suffered by Blues last term.

“It’s a new season but it felt the same as last season so we have to address that,” said Cox, who was making his 150th appearance for the club.

“What went wrong was that we gave three goals away really early on.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance really.

“We wanted to come out early on and stamp our authority on the game.

“We wanted to play with intensity too but it didn’t happen.”

The Shrimpers found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening 12 minutes before the visitors added a third before the break.

And Cox said the team were hurting at half-time.

“I thought there was a foul throw to start with for the first goal but we didn’t deal with what came after that,” said the striker.

“They got another two and it made for a horrible dressing room at half-time but we just had to come out and salvage some pride.

“From our point of view it was nowhere near good enough and we have to demand better from ourselves.

Blues did net a late consolation when Harry Lennon’s header from Isaac Hutchinson’s left wing corner appeared to be deflected into his own net by Blackpool’s Joe Nuttall.

And, despite being credited with the goal in some quarters, Cox confirmed he did not get a touch.

“Being honest it wasn’t my goal but I’ll take anything to get off the mark,” said Cox.

“I’ll be quite happy if they want to give it to me but Harry Lennon has something to say about it too.”

Blues - who were beaten away against Coventry City on the opening day -will now be looking to get back on track when they head to Stevenage in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

“We’ll watch the video, we will look at where we went wrong and try to put it right for the cup game on Tuesday at Stevenage,”said Cox.

“We need to start winning games because you don’t want to go too long without one and we want to get the kick we need.

“We have to keep believing, keep running hard for each other and keep on working hard.”