Saints fan Darryl Flahavan is hoping a more direct style of play could give Southend a much needed victory.

Flahavan, who was at Saints for nine years as a youngster before being released in 1998, is desperate for a victory against his boyhood favourites to try and lift the Shrimpers off the bottom of the table.

Southend started the season with a bang and even beat Manchester United in the Carling Cup last month, but their winless streak in the league now stretches back 17 matches to August 19.

In all, they have only banked six points out of their last 51!

Flahavan said: "You look at how Colchester play and they make it very difficult for the teams they are playing against.

"They get it forward quickly and that gets the ball into the other team's half. When you're there mistakes don't get punished but we're more of a passing side.

"We've been caught out a couple of times though giving the ball away 30 or 40 yards from our own goal and our style isn't working at the moment.

"Maybe we need to try something else because you can't see where our next win is coming from right now.

"No one is enjoying the way the things are.

"The players certainly aren't and I'm sure the supporters aren't either. We're in a bit of a rut and it's going to be a tall order to get out of the position we're in but we have to keep going."

Full interview: see today's Daily Echo