SOUTHEND United skipper Nathan Ralph has said sorry to the Shrimpers travelling supporters following Tuesday night's 1-0 defeat at Dorking Wanderers.

Blues were below par as they slumped to a seventh successive setback in the National League.

And Ralph believes the club's fans deserve far better.

“I want to apologise to the fans who came,” said Ralph.

“I think we’ve got the best fans in the league to be honest and for them to come and watch that I felt was unacceptable from us.

“The intensity we pride ourselves on I don’t think we had.

“The game plan the gaffer gives us we didn’t do and that’s completely down to us players on the pitch.”

The Shrimpers remain 12th in the National League standings.

And Ralph is desperate to stop the rot getting any worse.

“I’ve been here for relegations and I’ve seen what it’s like,” said Ralph.

“Tonight hurts because I don’t want to go back to that way.

“I feel like the club has come on leaps and bounds.

“What the gaffer and his staff are doing here, they go above and beyond for us every day and it was frustrating.

“We’re all behind the staff and performances like this are very frustrating.

“I felt like the identity wasn’t there and that’s something we need to put right.

"We've got no excuses and performances like that are unacceptable."

And Ralph is fully aware things have to improve.

"It's going to have to change and I think it's the mentality more than anything, "said the defender.

"We need men and we need to stand up to these challenges and play the way we know we can.

“We had a few home truths spoken in there just now and we’ll definitely look at it this week.

“We’ll leave no stone unturned and we’ll figure out what it is and make sure we put it right for the rest of the season.

“Moving forward, how we finish this season is how we go into the next so we want to put it right as soon as possible.”

Next up for the Shrimpers is a trip to Yeovil Town on Saturday and Ralph is determined to come out on top against his former team.

“It’s a big game and there’s no two ways about it, we need to get a result,” said Ralph.

“Losing seven games like we have by one goal is unacceptable.

“But the fact it’s been one goal every time shows we’re not completely out of games but I think it’s the mentality and it’s something we need to overcome.”

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