Barrett salutes 'proud' Southend

Barrett praised his side's all-round defensive display

Southend United captain Adam Barrett said the whole town should feel proud of the football club after their 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the FA Cup.

The Blues grabbed a last-minute equaliser to bring the Premier League side back to Roots Hall next Wednesday.

"The fans were absolutely superb with the noise they made and how they got behind the lads," said Barrett.

"I think they made the town proud, the lads made the town proud and I'm proud to be a Southend player at the moment."

Despite going 1-0 down after half an hour, Barrett told BBC Essex he felt the side grew in confidence the longer the game went on.

"They were going to have chances, they were going to make it difficult for us, but I thought we just dug in there," he said.

"I kept looking up at the clock and thinking 70 minutes gone, 80 minutes gone, it's still 1-0 and we've got a chance here.

I thought everyone was superb and really worked for the team and it just shows what we can do Southend captain Adam Barrett

"We were getting better and better as the game wore on and I just fancied us to nick it.

"We grafted, we put tackles in and you could not fault anyone out there, I thought everyone was superb and really worked for the team and it just shows what we can do."