SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher was alarmed by his side’s lack of fight in their 2-0 defeat to Maidenhead United at Roots Hall.

Two headers from Kevin Lokko condemned the Shrimpers to their third home setback in succession.

And Maher was hugely critical of the performance.

“You can talk about performance and all that but you've got to do the basics and be harder to beat than that,” stressed Maher.

“That's not on and there's a lack of fight which is the real worry for me.

“I know what needs to be done and I'll get it done.”

Blues have now triumphed just once in six games.

And Maher was bemused to see the Shrimpers concede from two more set pieces.

"It’s a repeat of what’s been going on a little bit,” said the 47-year-old.

“You can create all the chances you want but it’s two set pieces again when we’ve not marked up and where not doing our jobs has cost us.

“You go through it all the time and last year we gave away very few set piece goals away.

“This year it's too easy to score against us.

“It's too easy to get the ball in our box and get chances.

“It's something which has got to be addressed quickly."

Blues head to Eastleigh in the FA Cup next weekend before resuming their National League campaign at Rochdale seven days later.

And Maher hinted changes could be made.

"You can't keep on making the same mistakes,” said the Blues boss.

“I've known all along what I need to do and I still know that, even more so now and I've got to accelerate that."

“If you're a proper footballer you back wins up every week and we haven't done that.

“You need a bit of character to do that and a bit of fight our team and my teams have always shown but this team is a long way from it at the minute.

“I know what our DNA is and what it looks like.

"Credit to Maidenhead. They were strong, physical and worked hard. The basics of the game they got spot on. We didn't do that and we're too soft at the minute."