Southend United boss Alvin Martin today indicated he was staying at the Roots Hall helm in a bid to pull the club out of its current troubles for the sake of his players.

Blues crashed out of the FA Cup 1-0 at the hands of non-league strugglers Doncaster Rovers on Saturday - taking their miserable run to one win in 11 games - amid angry demonstrations from fans who called for Martin's head.

The Blues chief issued a carefully worded statement today and refused to add to it or answer any further questions.

Martin said: "Saturday was without doubt the lowest time in my footballing life.

"I think when you hear your own supporters reacting towards you like that anybody would be hurt - if you weren't then it would mean you didn't care.

"I like to think that I have got certain qualities and one of them is that I am a strong character.

"I have brought 90 per cent of the players to the club and I still believe in them and feel I have a responsibility to them.

"I would like to think that my feelings towards the club are fully understood - anybody who has spoken to me from my first days here must realise that Southend United means a lot to me and I wouldn't do anything to harm the club.

"If I felt that my going would help the club move forward then I wouldn't hesitate."

Blues chairman elect John Main, whose Billericay property development company Martin Dawn is still engaged in talks to buy out chairman Vic Jobson's final 50 per cent shareholding, said he had had long talks with Martin over the weekend.

He said: "Obviously Alvin felt really down after Saturday but he has a tremendous passion and determination to do well - I have got every confidence in him to sort our current problems out. It's a tough job but he is not going to run away.

"He knows I am right behind him and ready to support him in every way possible. It must have been hard for Alvin to take the brunt of the anger from our fans but I'm sure he will emerge even stronger for the experience.

"It's important now that everybody connected with the club from the players to the fans puts the past behind them and looks forward in a positive and optimistic manner.

"I had people come up to me totally devastated by Saturday's result - grown men were almost in tears and we were all gutted - but that shows a real passion . . . take that away and you really do have problems."

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