SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown slammed the Shrimpers as 'awful' following their dire 0-0 draw at Wealdstone this afternoon.

Blues hit the woodwork twice in the first half before failing to impress after the break.

And Brown was hugely critical of the performance.

"It was awful," said Brown.

"We had a grip of the game in the first 25/30 minutes and we had a couple of great chances to score but in the end we were hanging on.

"It was as if we thought we had a divine right to beat Wealdstone because they’re non-league but I’ll correct them that all season if I have to.

"I thought the seniors let me down and, to a man, other than the goalkeeper, they just weren’t at the races."

Blues have now taken four points from their opening three games.

And Brown was particularly incensed by one of his players, believed to be midfielder Nathan Ferguson, shying away from a tackle in the second half.

"I can’t accept people pulling out of challenges," fumed Brown.

"If you’re not going through challenges and you blame the fact you’re on a yellow card, I’m not having that.

"If you’re doing that you don’t deserve to wear the shirt and I’m not sure he will be in the future."

And Brown felt goalkeeper Steve Arnold was the only player to come out of the game with any credit.

"The only positive was the clean sheet and I think Steve is the only one who can say honestly say he wore his shirt his pride," said Brown.

"It wasn’t good enough and I had a few harsh words in there.

"That wasn't acceptable for me in my managerial career and it’s not acceptable for Southend United.

"We were poor after 30 minutes and there can be no excuses with tiredness or anything like that either."