GATESHEAD boss Rob Elliot thought his side produced one of their best away performances to win 3-1 at Southend United.

The victory kept the visitors fifth in the National League standings.

And Elliot was full of praise for his players.

“Any win at Southend is really, really good in the National League” Elliot told the club's YouTube channel.

“It's one of the best away wins and performances I've seen from us because we did every part of the game well.

“It's never going to be clean against Southend because they're such a good team and Kev (Maher) sets them up so well but I thought when it was the moments to dominate it was us who dominated.

“We were ruthless.”

Gateshead have now taken 23 points from 11 games.

And Elliot believes moving the ball across the pitch was key to the latest win.

“They put the ball in the box really well with quality but at half-time we spoke about getting the press a bit better and trying to nullify them,” said Elliot.

“We wanted to move the ball side to side more because they had the box in midfield and we were able to play around it and use the space of the far side.

"It shows the character of the group coming here, it's testament to their mentality and the culture they've built.

"Everyone single one of them was different class today.