Town were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at League Two Southend on Friday evening despite a brilliant first half goal by Lee Martin. Paul Jewell’s men were the better side in the first half but faded badly in a second period in which Neil Harris netted an equaliser for the home side.

Boss Paul Jewell named probably his strongest side of the pre-season campaign so far, lining them up in a 4-5-1 formation with Luke Hyam making his first start in front of the back four.

Tamás Priskin missed out with an injury, along with Ívar Ingimarsson, who is still suffering with his thigh problem. Shrimpers midfielder Kane Ferdinand, who was watched extensively by Jewell and his staff last season, was absent as he was with the Republic of Ireland U19 squad.

Lee Bowyer headed Josh Carson’s ninth minute cross from the left wide during a start in which few chances were created by either side.

Southend came close three minutes later when Ryan Hall sent in a dangerous freekick from the right which Bilel Mohsni and a number of other Southend players only narrowly missed.

The Blues went in front just before the quarter hour mark when Lee Martin cut in from the right and lashed a stunning left-foot shot into the top corner of the net for his first goal of pre-season.

Five minutes later, skipper Grant Leadbitter went wide from 25 yards with Town beginning to get the upper hand after another sluggish start.

On 23 Leadbitter played in Bowyer but the ball held up and Shrimpers defender Mohsni was in the way of the former Leeds man’s lob over keeper Glenn Morris.

Two minutes later Jason Scotland replaced Michael Chopra, who appeared to suffer a minor ankle injury early on but didn’t appear to be in too much discomfort and the switch looked to be precautionary.

Martin was close to a second moments later when Bowyer sent Carson away down the left, the Northern Irish international whipping in a cross which the former Manchester United man diverted over.

Carson flicked a header wide, then on the half hour Tommy Smith saw a header deflect wide from a Leadbitter corner. Delaney headed on to the roof of the net after the subsequent corner was played back to Kennedy to cross to the far post from deep on the left.

Jemal Johnson struck a low shot through to Fülöp on 39, the home side’s first shot on goal. Two minutes later, Márton Fülöp failed to reach Hall’s freekick in from the right but Mohsni behind him headed wide.

Moments before the break, after a minor dust-up between Mark Kennedy and Alassana N’Diaye, Anthony Grant, a player understood to have been eyed by the Blues last season, scuffed wide from another excellent ball in from the right by Hall.

Town deserved their lead at the break, Martin’s goal having been the highlight. However, the home side had had their moments from Hall’s set pieces in particular with Fülöp again looking uncomfortable on crosses.

The second half’s first chance fell to the Shrimpers, Smith selling Fülöp short with a back pass and a combination of Mohsni, who had moved up front in a half-time Southend shake-up, and the Hungarian keeper deflected the ball into the stand.

A minute later Fülöp did well to get down to his left to save from Grant with the home side starting the second period positively. Soon after, Grant and Lee Bowyer were involved in a minor bout of handbags.

The Shrimpers were within inches of getting on terms in the 62nd minute when former Millwall man Neil Harris sent in a cross from the right and Roots Hall cult hero Mohsni stooped to head against the bar.

Southend deservedly equalised in the 66th minute, moments after Town had subbed two of their three central midfielders. Right-back Sean Clohessy crossed from the byline and Harris headed into the net from close in.

Town were close to getting back in front on 70 when sub Andy Drury backheeled to Martin on the edge of the area, the earlier scorer riding a tackle before stabbing the ball through to Scotland inside the area. The Trinidadian worked his way past Morris but as he looked for space to add the final touch, the keeper grabbed the ball.

The volatile Mohsni, who earlier had got away with a very blatant handball as a cross flew over his head and out, clashed with Martin, then Drury, then Smith as the game briefly threatened to boil over.

Morris saved a deflected Scotland shot from the edge of the area before Mohsni finally got his name in referee Fred Graham’s book for dissent. The French-Tunisian was replaced soon after to applause from the home support but had time for an exchange of views with Martin before he left, the Blues winger waving him on his way to the dug-out.

Healy lashed a powerful 86th minute shot straight at Morris, then Ellington shot well over and wide as the Blues went looking for a winner, but none too convincingly prior to referee Graham blowing his whistle.

Despite having the better of the first period, the Blues never really got going after the break with the home side deserving their equaliser.

Overall, it was a performance which illustrated why manager Paul Jewell said earlier today that there is a long way to go before his side is capable of competing with the division’s best sides and why he continues to look for up to four further additions to his squad.

Town: Fülöp, Edwards (Ainsley 63), Kennedy, Smith, Delaney, Leadbitter, Carson (Ellington 72), Bowyer (Drury 65), Hyam (Healy 65), Chopra (Scotland 25), Martin. Unused: Lee-Barrett, Cresswell.

Southend: Morris, Clohessy, Gilbert (Sawyer 80), Hall, Mohsni (Prosser 78), Grant (James-Lewis 87), N’Diaye (Phillips 46), Harris, Johnson, Barker, Kalala. Unused: Coughlan, Bentley, Crawford, Asante, Leonard. Referee: Fred Graham (Essex).

Photo: Action Images

Tiggs added 23:16 - Jul 22 Pyjama Man the right man for the job? I think not. This season will be no different from the last two. Wake up to reality you lot.
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h32 added 23:28 - Jul 22 ......... one up front yet again !!!!! - speechless after previous failings playing this way. Same ##ap lies ahead, possibly worse - just a different season. PJ - you really have to now start proving yourself - not much evidence yet to suggest you are the man for the job, or an improvement on RK's reign. And that shouldn't have been too difficult.
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blues1 added 23:46 - Jul 22 my god, there really are more people than i thought who know very little about football. preseason is all about getting fitness & trying out systems. the one up front was working perfectly well until chopra went off. we all know scotland not the best up front on his own, but chops had done well. also im sure pj used this system tonight bcse he didnt want a repeat of what happened tuesday in the first few mins, so wanted to have some protection for the defence, which yes, needs strengthinging, something im sure pj is working on. at the end of the day, performances in preseason mean absoloutely nothing. i remember some years ago, we lost every preseason game yet had 1 of our best seasons ever. so anyone is judging what will happen based on these games is pointless.

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jclark20 added 23:49 - Jul 22 @pazelle what you you love so much about priskin?
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blueclaydon added 23:50 - Jul 22 Anyone in football knows that pre-season friendlies mean very little.. It's about testing new things out and gaining match fitness. Nobody is worried about the result unless it's an embarrassing defeat. Plus there's a lot of finished business in the transfer market yet, so don't be slating ipswich until 10 games into the season.
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blueclaydon added 23:56 - Jul 22 Ellington however isn't impressing much.
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Tractamatt added 00:08 - Jul 23 I am the kind of supporter who will find positives in any situation ,circumstance or scoreline but since the sacking of george burley ipswich town have stagnated in a major way. I only put my missus and child ahead of itfc so when im inclined to have a moan and a gripe if not an out and out rant i dont do so lightly, but in the order of fairness anyone who can put a (serious) positive spin on whats going on at the minute fine do it but dont slate me and others on this site for calling it as we see it.

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algarvefan added 00:17 - Jul 23 Jas0999, I for one think you are spot on with your observations, I do think however that we need to give PJ some time to get things right. He inherited a poor squad with lots of problems & is no doubt dealing with 'tight purse strings' in the transfer market. I'm not expecting any more than a mid table finish this season & think the season will be a big test of PJ's managerial capabilities. As far as I'm concerned it's just great not to have tthat idiot Keane in charge any more!!

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pazelle added 00:22 - Jul 23 Tractamatt - Don't worry, when Jewell accidentally plays Priskin up front with Chopra it will instantly click and we won't fear another pathetic Championship team ever again! JClark20 - Because he's superb and has just been mismanaged. He, like Chopra, plays much better with a strikepartner and with some of the donkeywork removed from his shift he will have fresher legs and will ping them in from all angles! Trust me.

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dynamicduo added 00:52 - Jul 23 1 upfront we knew that it didn't work last season and we are still trying it? We need a 6 foot 4 striker to play this formation, oh wait, we had one his name was Connor Wickham
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arc added 02:31 - Jul 23 What a fabulous picture of Lee Martin. New nickname: Clitus the Slack-Jawed Yokel. "Hey! Clitus!"
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Garv added 03:37 - Jul 23 Not even going to scroll up to look at his name but the complete person (in the words of Ian Holloway) who said Jewell is and has been no improvement on Keane is a fecking idiot. Pleaee leave you are embarrassing.
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blues1 added 06:52 - Jul 23 garv. absolutely spot on. exacxtly whet o thought when i read that. cant believe anyone could think things havent been improved under pj.
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townietilidie added 07:15 - Jul 23 Cant believe the doubters who seem to think a couple of pre-season results are going to be a reflection of how the team will bode for the new season . The new lads have been with us less than a month , we int goin to transform into a league winning team over night . Yeh in an ideal world i would like to see the lads go out and smash the lower league teams 5-0 in these friendlys but it doesnt happen like that , just look at some of the other pre-season results with the mighty prem league teams losing to lower league teams . I think some of you seem to forget how much Roy Keane realy f****d us up . The job of turning this great club around was always going to be a very difficult one and you have to start somewhere . A VERY wealthy owner doesnt mean instant success and has been proved over the last few seasons .What it does mean is that the club is financialy very secure and we will be able to steadily build a successfull team . I do believe P J is the right man to turn us around and take us forward with the years of expirence he has in the game but this isnt goin to happen in the space of close season just because we have signed a few players . So have faith and instead of doubting try to look at the bigger picture and lets get behind PJ and the boys , the fans will have a massive part to play this season as we all know portman road has not been it self for a few years now . COME ON YOU BLUES

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blues1 added 07:33 - Jul 23 townietilidie. a totally spot on post. seems not many people listen to what pj says. hes stated quite clearly that theres some way to go yet to get where we want to be. but im confident that under him we will get there. if not this season, then next.
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townietilidie added 07:52 - Jul 23 blues1 .. Cheers mate , just wish the doom & gloom merchants would go away , and yeh ya right if not this season then next . Tractamatt .. Lol at your post . First lines reads " i am the kind of supporter who will find positives in any situation , circumstance or scoreline " .... REALLY ?? could of fooled me
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StochesStotasBlewe added 08:20 - Jul 23 towntillidie. Superb post sir & the voice of reason. Just wish the inhabitants of doomsville would give PJ a break. Get behind the boys, not slatiing them before a ball is kicked in anger.
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WonkyZombie added 09:07 - Jul 23 It's waaaay too early to be jumping on the player's and manager's back at this point. Things always go this way in pre-season and it's all about fitness levels, getting the team to bed in and gel and experimenting with different formations. I, for one, am not a fan of the one up front system but I'm hedging my bets that Jewel was testing the team's resolve when it comes to soaking up attacks, closing out matches and playing more defensively - in my view, what Town are LEAST good at doing and it clearly shows that much more work has to be done in this area. Let's face it, the game is as such now that a team needs to learn how to play defensively and soak up pressure, especially late on in a match. It definitely appears though that Southend were out to rile players and get under their skin - hardly in the spirit of a friendly. I've noticed that the report from the last match said that Bowyer was seemingly targetted by players too because of his hot temper. That's gotta be watched. Overall, I'm not on any tenterhooks right at this monute. Jewell obviously knows where the failings are and is doing his best to put it right in my opinion. One thing is for certain however, us fans slating the players is not going to do any help. Let's leave the panicking and finger-pointing 'til a little later in the actual season, shall we?

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40yearsablue added 10:20 - Jul 23 I was there. Sorry but we were AWFUL. We just cannot defend properly and we desperately need a new experienced relaible keeper and a new experienced reliable centre back.
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denhamblue added 11:03 - Jul 23 i didnt go to cambridge or southend,but my freind went to both,although freindlies arent the end of the world,he said we looked ok at best at cambridge,good at southend in first half,but bloody aweful in second.
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h32 added 12:32 - Jul 24 .......obvious RK will be blamed by some people looking for excuses, for everything until the end of time - such are some pathetic minds. And this comes from one of RK's biggest critics. PJ will be OK - RK will take the blame. Move on you foolish people.
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Lesta_Tractor added 10:05 - Jul 27 How has Ellington looked in pre-season?
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