Southend United boss Alan Little lashed out angrily at the Roots Hall boo-boys following last night's latest Third Division setback at the hands of promotion play-off chasing Torquay United.

The Shrimpers chief blasted his terrace critics who again called for his resignation after watching their side slip to a seventh home defeat of the season, as visiting skipper Brian Healy's brace wrapped up a priceless 2-0 victory for the Gulls.

"The supporters can slaughter me as much as they like, but I'm not going anywhere as I've got a very big job to do here and I aim to see it through," said the disappointed Blues manager, whose team are still stuck in 18th position in the league.

"When I first arrived here 12 months ago I saved this club from relegation to the Conference League and I was the hero, but I'm still the same man now and I'll still do the best for Southend United.

"I'm totally committed to this club, despite what some people may think, and I'm working to a long-term plan with my chairman to turn things around here, which will see a lot of changes take place over the summer.

"The last thing I'm going to do is leave Roots Hall and I will continue getting on with my job until I'm told any different by the people upstairs at the club."

However, Little was quick to point the finger at his highly-paid players for another poor season.

"When I first came here I told these players that they had been sitting on their backsides and they had got their previous manager Alvin Martin the sack," added Little.

"And what happened? We beat Leyton Orient 3-0 at Brisbane Road in my first game which proved my point. But these players are resting on their laurels again now and I won't let them put me out of a job!

"But I also need help from the fans as well. What we need here is stability, nobody else is going to come here as a manager and wave a magic wand which will make everything alright.

"This club has had four horrendous years both on and off the field and we need to put things right, but it won't happen overnight, I need to be given time.

"I also need the supporters to give me and the team their full support from the stands, otherwise we haven't got a chance of going anywhere!"

Torquay boss Wes Saunders agreed with Little's condemnation of his players. "I was surprised that Southend made it so easy for us, in fact I'd describe our win as a simple stroll," he said.

"I thought their players would have given us a match despite their season being effectively over, but I didn't see much pride among the Southend players."

Blues's reserves, who travel to Barnet today for a 2pm kick-off, picked up a 2-2 draw at Portsmouth in the Avon Insurance Combin-ation League last night, thanks to a Leon Hunter penalty and a Martin Ing strike.

Blues midfielder KevinMaher launches an attack in last night's 2-0 home defeat by Torquay that led to fans calling for manager Alan Little's resignation BR> Picture: DAVE MONTIER

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