SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley heaped praise on Reeco Hackett-Fairchild after the on loan Portsmouth forward scored the only goal of the game on his debut against Barrow.

Hackett-Fairchild fired home an impressive effort after just three minutes to secure a vital 1-0 victory for the Shrimpers.

But Molesley was impressed by all aspects of Hackett-Fairchild's display. 

"It was a moment of pure quality from Reeco but it wasn’t just the goal I was impressed with," said Molesley.

"I was impressed with his work-rate and his endeavour to win the ball back high up the pitch as well.

"He put in a real slog before he needed to come off."

Hackett-Fairchild, who was replaced by Alan McCormack in the 61st minute, watched the remainder of the match with an ice pack on his hamstring.

But Molesley is hoping the injury is nothing too serious. 

"We’re hoping it's just over-tightness rather than a bad injury," said Molesley.

"Just before he joined us he did have two weeks out with Covid so he’d only had a couple of days training with us and a couple of days training before that too.

"There was some tightness there but the time he was on the pitch he made a big impact."