FORGET new socks or pants, Blues boss Steve Tilson insists his side’s 1-0 victory over Northampton Town this afternoon was his perfect Christmas present.

Junior Stanislas’ late free-kick proved to be the difference between the two teams at Roots Hall.

And, having seen the Shrimpers go seven league games without a win, Tilson was delighted by the success.

“It was a huge relief to see Junior’s goal go in and it was certainly the best Christmas present I could’ve asked for,” confirmed Tilson.

“The lads could not be faulted for effort because they gave everything but I thought it was going to be another one of those days.

“We missed some good chances and you start to fear that it isn’t going to happen but in the end I felt we deserved to win because we had been knocking at the door for quite some time.”

Stanislas guided the ball home from 30 yards after former Southend midfielder Luke Guttridge had brought down Alan McCormack.

But Tilson was just as impressed by his new look defence which included both Osei Sankofa and Johnny Herd.

“We were without Dan Harding and Adam Barrett who were suspended but we still did well back there,” said Tilson.

“We’ve let in quite a few goals lately so to get a clean sheet made the win even sweeter.

“We need to keep that up now.”

Blues’ next test comes at high-flying MK Dons on Sunday.