SOUTHEND United head coach Kevin Maher has revealed the ball was in play for just 36 minutes on the opening day of the season against Boreham Wood.
Blues were beaten 1-0 by Luke Garrard's side during a frustrating afternoon for the hosts at Roots Hall.
And the Shrimpers' post match analysis has now shown just how stop start the contest proved to be.
"The ball was in play for 36 minutes of the match and it was disappointing we couldn't build up a real head of steam," said Maher.
"It was the first game of the season and we deserved something from it.
"Them losing a player made it even more stop start and made it difficult to get into a flow.
"It was disappointing we didn't create more clear cut chances but we knew it would be stop start like that.
"It was the first game and we need to look forward to Saturday now at Solihull.
"Everyone was disappointed coming in on Monday and no-one likes to lose but they’ve been very good this week."
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