SOUTHEND United boss Mark Molesley has called on his side to ‘keep working and believing’ following tonight’s 2-1 defeat to Oldham Athletic.

An 89th minute goal from Zak Dearnley saw the Latics heap more misery on the bottom of the table Shrimpers at Roots Hall.

And Molesley, who has yet to win since taking charge, could not disguise his frustration at the final whistle.

“There’s no hiding from it, these are tough times and we have to dig deep now,” said the Blues boss.

“We’ve been sucker punched a couple of times now and we had a lot of the ball tonight.

“We did create some chances but not really enough and we need to be better in both boxes.”

Blues went behind four minutes after the break when Bobby Grant volleyed home from close range.

But the hosts equalised 14 minutes from time with Tom Clifford scoring a superb free-kick to earn praise from Molesley.

“It was a fantastic strike from Tom Clifford and he showed great technique,” said Molesley.

“It was a real positive and it really buoyed us.

“It kicked us on and we went for the winner.

“We hit the bar and had some other chances but it in our quest to get a winner we left the back door open a little bit and we were cruelly punished.”

And that lead to Oldham substitute Zak Dearnley scoring an 89th minute winner after Jason Demetriou had given the ball away for Blues.

“It was an error in possession when we’re going for a winner and we’ve been harshly punished,” said the 39-year-old.

“I sound like a bit of a broken record but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.

“We have to keep on working and keep believing.

“It’s tough when you lose and there’s no dodging that.

“There are some really good parts but we’re aren’t the finished article at the moment.”