SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley was pleased to hand Ricky Holmes his Shrimpers debut during this afternoon's 1-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

Holmes played the 23 minutes in place of Reeco Hackett-Fairchild after signing earlier this week.

And Molesley was happy to have the experienced winger to call upon.

"I thought he did well," said Molesley.

"There was hustle and bustle and he probed in their box a few times but it just didn’t open up for us.

"The game has been decided by a freak moment.

"It’s painful and hurtful but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.

"We’ve got to dust ourselves down and keep going.

"There’s another big game on Wednesday now."