ACCRINGTON Stanley boss James Beattie admitted he was a little disappointed to be denied victory as Southend United came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at the Store First Stadium.

The Reds led through Mark Phillips’ own goal but Luke Prosser headed an equaliser for the promotion-chasing visitors 12 minutes from time.

“I think Southend are as good a side as we’ve played and it shows how far we’ve come to be disappointed not to take all three points,” Beattie said. “They gave a very good account of themselves and we showed some excellent passages of play and some excellent defending, apart from their goal where the centre half has headed in unmarked. It was just a lack of communication.

“It’s unfortunate that small thing is the thing that’s cost us two points.

“Southend were probably surprised by us. They probably came here thinking they were going to get a victory but they’ll know they’ve been in a game.”

Stanley defended resiliently for periods in the second half, with 19-year-old keeper Andrew Dawber making some important saves.

“We defended really well and young Andrew (Dawber) did really well on a number of occasions,” Beattie said.

“He made a few good saves and got man of the match. He was at the back of a back four who are performing really well at the moment, and I thought some of our attacking play was excellent.”