Phil Brown: Southend United boss on 'horrible' pressure caused by form
- Published
Southend are in their third season in League One after being promoted in 2015
Southend United manager Phil Brown says the pressure he and his players are under is "horrible" as they look to halt their poor run of form.
The Shrimpers have lost five of their past six League One games and fallen to 17th - four points above the drop zone.
"When you're in our position you start looking over your shoulders and people start losing a little bit of faith and confidence," Brown told BBC Essex.
"It's my job to make sure that we stay focused and remain on the job in hand."
Former Hull boss Brown has been at Roots Hall for almost five years, with only Rochdale's Keith Hill and AFC Wimbledon's Neal Ardley lasting longer in the third tier.
Off the pitch, Southend sacked striker Nile Ranger on Thursday because of "reoccurring disciplinary issues".
"Given everything that's gone on, of course you could say it's my toughest time, but there's been some tight moments regardless," Brown said.
"In terms of the pressure that you're under, it's never nice when you're fighting a group of players that are looking over their shoulders - it's horrible.
"We are below midway [in the table] and it's not acceptable given the constraints the chairman provided for me at the start of the season, which I understand."