ANTHONY Wordsworth felt Southend United’s 4-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers was the worst performance since he signed for the Shrimpers.

Wordsworth - who joined Blues in the summer of 2015 - headed the visitors in front at the Keepmoat Stadium.

But Doncaster hit back with four goals in the space of just 12 minutes to leave Wordsworth fuming at the final whistle.

“It’s the worst we’ve played since I’ve been here,” said Wordsworth who has made 66 appearances for the Shrimpers.

“It came off the back of a good week as well with us winning four games in a row so it’s really disappointing because we haven’t played at all well.”

Wordsworth took centre stage throughout the afternoon and infuriated the home-side when he was shown just a yellow card after clashing with Rovers midfielder Jordan Houghton midway through the first half.

Referee Darren Handley deliberated the decision for more than three minutes before eventually opting against showing Wordsworth the first red card of his professional career.

The Blues midfielder defended his challenge but felt the officials were keen to even things up after deciding not to send him off.

“Their player was over the ball and the referee hasn’t given a foul so I have every right to go for it,” said the 28-year-old.

“He took his time but when he didn’t send me off he was always trying to level the game up and I thought he did that in the second half.”

Handley then dismissed Blues skipper Anton Ferdinand for taking his protests too far immediately after the match.

But the dismissal did not surprise Wordsworth.

“I didn’t hear what was said but if it wasn’t Anton it would have been someone else because he was dying to send someone off,” said Wordsworth.

“However, we can dig out the referee for being as bad as he was but our performance as a team wasn’t good enough and it’s a reality check for us really.”

And Wordsworth felt Doncaster’s equaliser in first half stoppage time proved to be a key moment in the match.

“Them scoring just before half-time killed us really,” said Wordsworth.

“Coming in 1-0 ahead would have given us something to protect but to go out and start the second half like we did meant it was an uphill battle from there.

“We’re all hurting now and our emotions are all over the place so my goal means nothing at all and isn’t worth celebrating at all.”