SOUTHEND United’s new head coach Kevin Maher felt fear from his side in this afternoon’s 3-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.

The setback came in Maher’s first game in charge of the Shrimpers.

And the 44-year-old saw his side crumble after going behind seven minutes into the second half.

“It just looks like when we concede a goal you can see a lack of confidence and a fear almost of here we go again,” said Maher.

“You can almost see the fear in the place, I can feel it and sniff it.

“But it’s our job to change with the players in there and they’ve got to step up.”

Blues have dropped into the relegation zone following their sixth defeat in seven games.

But Maher insisted he was already fully aware of the size of the job with the Shrimpers.

“We knew coming in how hard it was going to be,” said Maher.

“It’s a tough job and we’ve been in two days so we know it’s going to take time.

“We wanted to get a positive result for the fans and they will be frustrated but it’s going to take time.

“We are going to see who is up to the journey player wise and who is not and that will happen as we go along the way.”

But Maher refused to be too critical of his team.

“It’s just one game and I’m not going to go overboard with the lads, criticising them,” said Maher.

“They gave everything and that’s the minimum, I know.

“But this hasn’t changed what I knew to a certain extent.

“Changing the whole mentality and the culture of a football club is going to take time.”