SOUTHEND United were missing both Tom Clifford and Matt Dennis for tonight's clash with Brentford.

Clifford was absent with a back problem while Dennis, who is on trial from Norwich City, was also unavailable

And Blues boss Phil Brown was threfore forced to change things around against the Bees. 

"Tom pulled out with a bad back," said Brown.

"I don’t know if it’s the travelling he’s been doing in his car but we’ve also been at Five Lakes for the past few days so maybe it’s the swimming we’ve been doing there.

"But he was complaining about a bad back so he couldn’t play when he was due to play the second 45 minutes.

"Matty Dennis was also unavailable after a slight knock in training.

"He could probably have played if it was the last game of the season with something riding on it and it was just a precuation he wasn't involved really."