Kevin Maher backed Rob Newman to become Southend United's next manager after the caretaker boss steered Blues to a 4-2 Roots Hall win over Swansea City on Saturday.

Central midfielder Maher converted two penalties as the Shrimpers netted four second-half goals to sink the Swans, who had led through defender Michael Howard's strike at the interval.

Blues hitman Tes Bramble and winger Barrington Belgrave completed the rout as Southend climbed to ninth place in the Third Division table, with visiting forward Stuart Roberts netting a consolation.

"All the players would like to see Rob get the job because he's got so much enthusiasm for the game," said Maher. Find out more about Southend United FC "I can vouch for his motivational skills personally as Rob helped me salvage my career at Roots Hall when I was going through a rough patch.

"Rob talked to me and encouraged me to do certain things and it helped me turn things around. "He gets the best out of the players and everybody in the changing room wants Rob to become the manager because he is desperate to be a success."

And the ice cool midfielder said it was a nice change to get among the goals for once.

"I don't get that many goals, but I'm top-scorer now, which is a bit of a novelty," Maher joked.

"I missed a penalty at Luton Town earlier in the season, but I was determined to put things right and I was always confident of scoring both spot-kicks."

And stand-in boss Newman said he hoped the win over Swansea would help his future job prospects.

"We didn't play as well in the first-half, but were still disappointed to come in 1-0 down," he said. "I had a word with the players during the interval and encouraged them to pass the ball with more purpose and urgency, which paid off.

"We kept plugging away and created a lot of chances after half-time, which we converted to give us the right reward for our efforts.

"On a personal note it was a good result because I'd like the manager's job here and the punters can go away and see that progress is being made."

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