MARK Oxley feels Southend United's draw at Mansfield Town shows just how far the Shrimpers have come.

Blues dug deep in the second half to secure a 1-1 draw against the Stags at Field Mill.

And Oxley was keen to look at the point picked up positively.

"It’s mixed emotions in there but I think that shows how far we’ve come in recent weeks.," said Oxley, who skippered the side.

"A draw against Mansfield on an absolute nightmare of a pitch away from home, I think we have to look at it positively. We have to keep plugging away and I think it's a point we've picked up rather than two we've thrown away."

The draw kept Blues bottom of the table, three points from safety. But the Shrimpers have now gone four games without defeat and Oxley was happy to see Mark Molesley's side show a different side to their game.

"We’ve gone uglier than we maybe would’ve liked to but it speaks volumes we can do a bit of both," said Oxley.

"Hopefully when we get on better pitches again we can show our quality. But we’re becoming hard to beat and it’s good to see."

And Oxley has also been boosted by the Shrimpers' improved defensive record in recent weeks.

"You look at previous games compared to now and the shots on target are minimal now," said Oxley, "That’s down to everyone on the pitch putting a real shift in."

However, Blues could have had greater reward at the weekend had it not been for a bizarre decision from referee Brett Huxtable who somehow failed to award the visitors a penalty when Simeon Akinola was clearly brought down in the box.

"Don’t even start me on that, I don’t want to get in trouble," said Oxley.

"We’ve watched it back and you can hear him kick Sim. I even heard it from where I was standing at the time as well. That’s the mentality of the group now though because we got on with it and got the goal after that had happened.

"You will get bad decisions at this level but you have to learn from it."

Blues did that against the Stags and Oxley pleased to see more youngsters entering the fray.

"I was pleased for Rob Howard who made his debut which is good for him and it’s good to have the young boys who have not been able to be involved with the embargo and everything," said Oxley.

"It’s a good learning curve for them but bringing on the likes of Greg Halford, it shows where we are now as a group and that can only galvanise us."

And Oxley is now firmly focused on facing Colchester.

"We’re looking forward to a tasty one on Boxing Day now," said Oxley.

"It’s just such a shame the fans can’t be there but I’m sure they will be in spirit. "