Southend manager Phil Brown felt his side matched the passion of the club’s supporters in a 2-1 win against Leyton Orient at Roots Hall.

The victory kept alive the Shrimpers’ slight hopes of avoiding relegation from the English Football League for the first time.

And Brown – who took the team out to speak with supporters protesting against chairman Ron Martin before the game – was delighted with the character on show.

“There is a lot of support for this football club and there were a lot of people outside that ground today who care for the club,” said Brown.

“I took the team out there to let the fans know we’re still fighting and wearing the badge with pride.

“We wanted to show them we were going to do that and I think we did.

“If those fans watched that performance they have to say they saw there’s a lot of people who care inside the club as well.

“That was on show from minute one and we’ve got a chance so we’re still fighting.

“We got this win with unbelievable passion and desire but it’s in the lap of the footballing gods now as we need Forest Green to do us a favour against Barrow on Tuesday night.”

Southend are currently five points behind Barrow with just two games to go, the first of which comes against them at Holker Street next Saturday.

But the Shrimpers will be making the long trip off the back of a good win.

They broke the deadlock with their first goal at home since January when Tyler Cordner headed home Ricky Holmes’ left wing corner in the 42nd minute.

Orient equalised just before the break, with Louis Dennis firing home after Ouss Cisse had headed down James Brophy’s deep free-kick.

However, Southend fought back and kept their season alive, with Matt Rush darting in from the left side before scoring with a low effort 14 minutes from time.

The defeat pushed Orient down to 11th in the table, five points behind the play-off positions.

And interim manager Jobi McAnuff was far from impressed with the display.

“I’m disappointed with the result,” said McAnuff.

“It was all about winning and the performance wasn’t good enough for us to get that.

“But us not getting into the play-offs is not all about today.

“There have been ample opportunities in this run, even during my time in charge, to win games that were there for the taking and we haven’t done that.

For me that comes down to a lack of character and a lack of leadership at times.

“I’ve been quite vocal about that and it’s something I do feel we need to improve.”