SOUTHEND United boss Mark Molesley praised his side after this afternoon’s 0-0 draw at League Two leaders Cambridge United.

The Shrimpers dug deep to secure a share of the spoils at the Abbey Stadium.

And Molesley was pleased with the determined display.

“I was really pleased with the performance, the attitude, endeavour and work-rate in tough conditions,” said Molesley.

“Away to the team top of the table it was always going to be a tough challenge but I think we more than matched them.

“We had a few shots but we probably didn’t really test their keeper enough.

“We’ve shown the fighting spirit we’re going to need but all we’ve done is given ourselves a platform to build on.”

The point followed a 1-0 win at promotion chasing Newport County on Tuesday night.

But Molesley was frustrated Blues were not awarded a penalty in the first half when Ashley Nathaniel-George went to ground.

“It was a strong shout for a penalty,” said Molesley.

“He’s either got to do him for diving or it’s a penalty.

“Ash gave him a clean pair of heels and he was pulled back twice by him before that too.

“I haven’t seen it again but it looked a good shout.”

At the other end, Blues bagged a second successive clean sheet on the road.

And Molesley feels the Shrimpers have shown big improvements.

“We’ve improved a lot but we needed too and we have to follow it up now,” said Molesley.

“There’s plenty of hard work ahead of us but it’s huge we’re out of the bottom two now.

“Teams have games in hand but all we can do is focus on our own business and we’ve got to follow this up with more good results to really put the pressure on.”