Southend United: Phil Brown determined to eradicate defensive 'fragility'

Anthony Wordsworth's comeback was good news for Southend after he scored 12 goals for them last season

Southend United manager Phil Brown is determined to rid his side of the defensive "fragility" which has seen them go nine games without a win.

The Shrimpers came from 2-0 down to earn a point in their home League One game against Northampton Town.

"It sounds like a good point, but no, it's another couple dropped," 58-year-old Brown told BBC Essex.

"At half-time, I was probably the only man in the stadium that didn't (think we should) make changes."

"I think everybody would have had two, possibly three changes at half-time. change of formation, change of system, whatever, but I decided to let them put it right because I firmly believed that we could."

He continued: "In the second half they showed the character that's required to win games of football, not draw them, but we've got to get rid of that fragile feel to our defence and get back to clean-sheet mentality.

"We've had a 0-0 draw, we've had a 1-1 draw, we've had a 2-2 draw, and we've had a 3-3 draw and every one of those games we should have won."

Brown was delighted to see midfielder Anthony Wordsworth make a scoring return in his first game since suffering a hamstring injury in April.

"Wordsworth got himself a goal and also got 60 minutes under his belt," Brown added.

"I was thinking 45 might be enough, because the information I was receiving was that his hamstring could go and we could be running the risk of losing for another three months, which would have been a disaster.

"But the 60 minutes he got was the old Anthony Wordsworth, full of quality, full of making us play.

"He ended up in a team that didn't get beat. If he could have stayed on for 90 minutes, I think he would have been on a winning team."

Meanwhile, Southend have completed the signing of free agent midfielder Josh Wright, who left Gillingham last month, on a one-year contract with an option for a further 12 months.

"I've kept calm and stayed in the background but I'm over the moon to get it done and I can't wait to get going now," Wright told the club website.