SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown has explained why he selected a five man defence against King's Lynn.
The Shrimpers boss opeted to go with wing-backs for the opening day of the National League campaign.
And Brown was keen to protect Josh Coulson after the centre-back endured an injury hit pre-season.
"We could’ve changed to a four with Jason Demetriou at right-back but Josh Coulson missed four weeks of pre-season," said Brown.
"For an outfield player to miss four weeks and then be thrown into King’s Lynn away for the first game showed his character.
"But that’s why I put an extra centre half alongside him.
"The system was to make us a bit more fluid but maybe after two or three games we could go to a flat back four."
The Shrimpers won 1-0 at King's Lynn with Sam Dalby scoring the only goal of the game.
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