SOUTHEND United striker Gavin Tomlin was left cursing his luck after failing to fire his side to victory over Port Vale at Roots Hall on Saturday.

The 29-year-old was twice denied by the woodwork and also had two further efforts impressively saved by Vale goalkeeper Chris Neal.

And that meant Tomlin and his team-mates were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw against the promotion pushing visitors.

“I thought my luck had changed after scoring at Bristol Rovers but it was back to the same old story on Saturday,” said Tomlin.

“I hit the post twice and their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves to also stop me scoring.

“I thought at least two of them were in when I hit them but unfortunately it was one of those days and we've only been able to get a point.”

However the share of the spoils pushed Blues back up to 11th in the League Two table.

And Tomlin was keen to point out the positives of a performance which saw Southend pile pressure on a Port Vale side who sit second in the standings.

“I thought we played really well and this should still be seen as a good game for us,” said Tomlin.

“We created a number of chances which is always good and, on another day, we could have won by three or four goals.

“But their goalkeeper was brilliant and must have made four or five really good saves which was obviously frustrating for us.

Blues will now be bidding to build on the good performance and Tomlin is particularly keen for that to happen against teams in the lower half of the table.

“We seem to be able to play well against the top teams like Port Vale, Rotherham, Cheltenham and Gillingham but don't do the same against the sides lower down which has to change,” said Tomlin.

“Our next game is against Torquay who are up there in and around the play-offs so hopefully that will suit us.

“But long term we need to be able to play like this consistently if we want to also be involved in going for promotion which I certainly think we're capable of doing with the players we have in our squad now.”