SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown will again be looking to keep the pressure off his players ahead of Saturday's clash with Chesterfield at Roots Hall.

The Shrimpers host the fifth placed Spireites having ended a run of four successive defeats with a 1-0 win against Eastleigh on Tuesday night.

And Brown will again be doing what he can to get the best from Blues who have endured a poor start to the National League campaign.

“On Tuesday night they didn’t know the team until 6.15 so maybe naming the team late is the way forward,” said the Blues boss.

“I’ve got to think long and hard about my own preparation.

“I’ve treated players the same from the Premier League to the National League but sometimes when you name a team it can put a lot of pressure on a player.

“Not naming the team until late might be the answer but I’m still learning all about this group of players.

“It’s a new squad and a new league.

“But after four defeats on the bounce maybe we can turn it back around with four wins on the bounce.”

Tuesday night’s win saw Blues move up to 18th in the standings and Brown has now switched his sights onto Chesterfield who were among the pre-season favourites for promotion after a summer of big spending.

But Brown does not want budgets to determine the outcome of matches.

“If it’s a battle about money and I don’t want it to be, we would be about mid-table with regards to finances but it’s not about money,” said Brown.

“It’s about the quality of the players you bring in and I’ve been happy with that.

“The motivation I was happy with for four games and then it disappeared a bit after Wrexham.

“But after getting back to winning ways we have to make sure it’s not another eight games until we win the next one.”

Brown has Terrell Egbri available again after the winger recovered from a hamstring problem but he will again be without centre-back Josh Coulson (ankle), defender John White (groin), left-back Tom Clifford (ankle) and midfielder Abu Ogogo (foot).

Strikers Sam Dalby and Rhys Murphy are both pushing for starts after impressing off the bench on Tuesday night.