SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley was left gutted after seeing the Shrimpers slump to a 2-1 defeat against Morecambe at Roots Hall.

Blues have now been beaten in their opening five games of the season.

And Molesley found the latest setback tough to take. 

"We’re gutted and we’re disappointed," said the 39-year-old.

"You can see how much it’s hurting in there but some valuable lessons have been learnt.

"Ultimately it’s ended in disappointment and we’ve got to be better so we will work hard to make sure that happens this week."

The Shrimpers opened the scoring after just five minutes thanks to an own goal from Morecambe defender Liam Gibson.

And Molesley was buoyed by the way Blues started.

"We started the game brightly into a strong wind and big Emile (Acquah) had his first start," said Molesley.

"Unfortunately he couldn’t last the game and we were forced into making changes because of injuries which maybe cut our flow a little bit.

"Morecambe are an experienced team and they managed the game in the second half better than we did."

But Molesley is refusing to be downbeat. 

"We’re a young team and work in progress at the moment," said Molesley.

"It’s up to me to get them more confident on the ball and wins certainly help that.

"That hasn’t happened today so we’ve got to pick them up and keep believing in our processes."

And Molesley also felt there were signs of positivity. 

"There were some improvements and that makes the defeat even more frustrating because you want that win for everyone just to lift the spirits," said Molesley.

"We’ve had three new players start today and that’s a positive.

"There are four or five others waiting in the wings so reinforcements are on the way.

"We wish they were back now but they’re not."

Blues remain bottom of the table without a point to their name.

But Molesley was keen to stress it is still early days.

"The League table doesn’t look great at the moment but it’s three games and it’s six weeks into our project," said Molesley.

"We haven’t had our most experienced players available yet either.

"We’ve got a young side learning their way.

"When the experienced players come back and the further we get into our process and the more weeks we have with the players the more we should see some progress."