Southend United boss Alan Little was able to lavish some rare praise on his team following Saturday's plucky 0-0 draw at Third Division leaders Rotherham United.

Blues' players had come underfire from club chairman John Main last week for a string of woeful performances, but the Seasiders did their best to erase the painful memory of their recent outings by battling for 90 minutes at Millmoor.

"I demanded a positive response from my players against Rotherham and I certainly got that," said Little, who saw his team reduced to ten-men in the dying minutes, following striker Steve Jones' sending-off.

"These lads have got a responsibility to the club to go out and put in the performances which will get us the right results, push us up the table and generate money for Southend United by getting the crowds back through the turnstiles.

"But they know this and have been condemned heavily over the last week for failing to achieve these goals. I told the players before the game that they needed to react to this criticism on the pitch, which they did by proving they are proud people.

"Every one of my players from one to eleven gave their all at Millmoor, putting in a hard-working performance which was both solid and committed."

However, Little admitted his lowly strugglers' steadfast display against the league table-toppers filled him with frustration as well as satisfaction.

"Rotherham may be top of the table, but there was nothing between the two sides on show at Millmoor," said Little, whose team have now slipped to 18th position in the league standings.

"They never worried us and we dealt with them comfortably which, again, highlights how much we have underachieved this term."

Blues midfielder Nigel Pepper, who started his career at hometown club Rotherham, was happy to have put a minor dent in the Millers' basement league title aspirations.

"We've worked hard to earn a good draw at Millmoor, but it's a shame that we couldn't nick a goal and take all three points," said the tough-tackling schemer, who saw his team-mates extend their miserable away-day goal drought to 604 minutes.

"All the players have come in for a bit of stick because of their performances over the last few games, but the criticism we've taken was the boot up the backside we needed to get our house in order.

"Rotherham probably expected us to be scared of them because of where they are in the table, but we unsettled them straight from the kick-off and proved we are a better side than our league position shows."

And Southend frontman Steve

Jones, who was red carded, following two bookable offences for off the ball fouls, admitted he deserved his early-bath.

"I was a bit gutted because it's the first time I've been sent-off in my career," said the former Billericay Town hitman.

"Rotherham's defenders were giving me a few digs and I handed them a few in return, there was plenty of it flying around, but I was the one who got punished for it."

Blues reserves take on Bristol City at Roots Hall today, kick-off 2pm, in the Avon Combination.

Pepper grinds it out - Blues midfielder Nigel Pepper, right, keeps his Rotherham counterpart at bay as he helps his side stand firm against the Division Three leaders on Saturday

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