PHIL Brown felt Southend United were the better side against Chesterfield on Saturday and did not deserve to suffer a 2-1 defeat.

The Shrimpers suffered their first league defeat of the season when Spireites substitute Armand Gnanduillet headed home a stoppage time winner at the ProactStadium.

But Brown did not think the final score was a fair reflection of the game.

“I’m bitterly disappointed for the players because their effort and work-rate was fantastic and I thought the best team lost,” said Brown.

“I thought Chesterfield started well but we nullified their strengths after about 20 minutes, only to end up conceding from two set pieces which is frustrating, especially with the second one coming right at the end.”

Gnanduillet netted in the sixth minute of added on time, as he converted a right wing corner from Gary Roberts.

However, Brown felt the game should not have lasted so long.

“I don’t know where the six minutes of stoppage time came from and you could hear that the crowd thought the same when the board went up,” said Brown.

“The referee certainly played his part but we still should’ve defended for that long.

“It’s hard to take and walking in to our dressing room you would think we had lost a cup final and the lads are wondering how we’ve lost.

“In contrast, Chesterfield’s bench and players reacted like they had won the championship and that tells me an awful lot.

“It’s not a nice feeling for us but it’s one I’m sure we will learn from.”

And Brown wants the improvements to be made straight away as the Shrimpers head to Wycombe Wanderers this weekend looking to get back to winning ways.

“It’s our first defeat in the league and it’s all about how we react to that now,”said Brown.

“We’ve competed well against Chesterfield, the favourites for promotion, and at times we outplayed them which we can take plenty from.

"But we have to go to Wycombe at the weekend now and make sure we get a better result there.”