SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown insists he is not fearing for his future – despite this afternoon’s 2-1 defeat against Fleetwood Town.

The setback – which was the Shrimpers’ eighth in nine games – saw them slip to 18th in the League One table, just two points above the relegation zone.

But Brown is confident he will be remaining at Roots Hall and, when asked if he was concerned he would lose his job, the 58-year-old said: “No. I’ve had a good conversation (with the chairman) and I’ve had a great week too.

“Fifty-five minutes into the game I was still enjoying my week but we were unhinged by a couple of poor mistakes.

“But I very much believe I can turn things around.”

Brown was heckled by sections of the Shrimpers’ support during the latest setback at Roots Hall.

And he insisted the players must now realise the seriousness of the situation.

“Of course the fans are entitled to vent their anger but the more the players realise we are in spot of bother the more we will be able to get out of it,” said Brown.

“There’s no sense in thinking of the play-offs or anything like that because that’s gone at the moment.

“We need to knuckle down, roll our sleeves up and work hard because we’re in a spot of bother right now.

“Hard work is the only way to get out of this, there’s no magic formula.”

“But once we win one game the confidence comes back and hopefully another one comes along.”

However, the Shrimpers have now triumphed just twice in the League since the end of October.

And Brown was not hiding his role in the run of poor results.

“I’m fully to blame for what’s going on,” said the Southend boss.

“I’m letting the players down and they’re letting me down too.

“It’s only us who can get ourselves out of it but I’m relying on my senior pros to get us out of the trouble and not further into it. “If anything it looked as though it was going to be a boring 0-0 draw today until a couple of moments of madness by senior pros and I expect better from my seniors.

“Now it’s all about who has the proverbials to accept the challenge of winning the next game so I’ll be looking at people very closely this week.”