Southend United boss Alan Little branded Saturday's 0-0 Roots Hall draw with his former club York City as Blues' "worst Third Division display of the season".

However, the down in the mouth Shrimpers chief, who was desperate to beat the club he coached and managed for 11-years before joining the Seasiders, found it hard to explain his side's woeful performance.

Little who was greeted by chants of "what a load of rubbish" as he left the Southend dug-out said: "I can understand the frustration of our fans as I've just gone through it myself.

"But what makes it more difficult to swallow is the fact that we work so hard on the training ground all week to get things right and then put on a disappointing display like this, which is baffling.

"However, I know that as the manager the buck stops with me and I am the one who has to ultimately shoulder the responsibility for such a poor showing."

Southend's latest spiritless outing left them sliding further down the league table to a pitiful 17th position, three places and six points ahead of their weekend adversaries.

Little also questioned the commitment of his players, who yet again failed to produce the goods during a dull stalemate, which rarely threatened to conjure up a priceless goal.

"When you see a performance like this it makes you wonder about some of the players' attitude," Little added.

"There's players out there who are out of contract at the end of the season and you'd think they would be playing for their livelihoods, but all they have done is let me, the fans, Southend United and themselves down."

However, Little admitted that some of his men looked well off the boil during the dreariest of 90 minutes to be seen at Roots Hall in a long time.

"Some of the boys played very poorly," he said.

"One example was Nathan Jones, he has been a revelation this season, but just couldn't do anything right against York.

"I also thought our defence was very anxious, with centre-halves David Morley and Leo Roget, as well as my goalkeeper Mel Capleton, all looking as if they were on a different wave-length as they failed to communicate with each other.

"However, if there was a positive to come out of this match it was the fact we picked up a point and a clean sheet, because we have played a lot better than this and lost this season."

Former Blues striker Barry Conlon, who joined York for £120,000 over the summer, admitted to feeling frustrated on his first return to Roots Hall.

"I was gutted personally because I wanted to come here and score and I had a great chance in the first few minutes, but Mark Beard got over and made a great block," said the 21-year-old Irishman.

"It would have been a dream return, but one thing's for sure - the immense pressure on Southend to win at home from the terraces was still there - I could feel it."

Under par - Nathan Jones (left) goes up for an aerial challenge with former Blues' hit-man Barry Conlon

Picture: LUAN MARSHALL

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