SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown was 'not unduly worried' by tonight's 5-1 defeat to West Ham United's under 23 side.

The young Hammers secured a big win at Roots Hall in Blues' latest pre-season clash.

But Brown will not be getting carried away by the size of the setback.

"I’m not a results person in pre-season and I never have been," said Brown.

"I’m more about the performance and for the first 30 minutes I thought we more than matched them.

"You could see the quality in their team and the majority of that quality was in the final third.

"They worked out where the space was and that was behind our back four, certainly in the second half when the young lads came on.

"But there’s nothing to unduly worry about.

"I think we just got West Ham a bit early in our pre-season to tell you the truth."

Despite the defeat, Blues broke the deadlock early on with Matt Rush on target.

And Brown wants lessons to be learnt as the Shrimpers bid to improve.

"It was a lesson in fitness, attitude and mentality to a certain extent," said Brown.

"The hardest thing for me is to get everyone into a winning trail of thought rather than a losing one.

"You can look at their under 23 side’s budget and ours but it’s not about that.

"It’s about how we react and adapt but I think the difference in fitness showed.

"They’ve been back since the first or second week in June which was three or four weeks ahead of us and that actually showed.

"We think we’re fit by we’re nowhere near and we have some hard work ahead of us."

The match was watched by close to 2,000 fans and Brown was disappointed not to give Southend's supporters something to cheer. 

"I know if you’re a supporter of Southend you don’t support West Ham," said Brown.

"I know there’s a rivalry and I wish it had been a better score-line for our fans but the bottom line is it’s a pre-season friendly.

"Lets keep it level and real.

"We got a lesson in fitness tonight and a bit of quality in the final third."