Brackley Town boss Whing taking 'loads of positives' despite defeat to Southend in first game
Andy Whing is taking the postitives from Brackley Town's performance despite the Saints suffering a 3-0 home Enterprise National League defeat to Southend United in his first game in charge on Saturday.
Former Solihull Moors and Barrow manager Whing was unveiled as the new boss at St James last week, and faced a stern test first up as Brackley hosted the promotion-chasing Shrimpers.
Brackley held their own for much of the game, but once the visitors opened the scoring 10 minutes from time, they then took full advantage of some tired Brackley legs to add two more and walk away with a flattering 3-0 win.
It was a first defeat in nine games for the Saints, who dropped to 16th in the National League table, but remained six points clear of the relegation zone ahead of Tuesday night's trip to Wealdstone.
"To lose 3-0 makes it look worse than it actually was," Whing told @BrackleyTownFC.
"We have gone toe-to-toe with a very good team who are three or four points off third with games in hand, and Kev Maher (Southend boss) has done a fantastic job there.
"I thought in the first half we were really good and I think we probably had the best chance and should have gone 1-0 up, but there were some unbelievable blocks.
"I thought we grew into the game really well and worked really hard, but to be fair they had the ascendancy in the second half.
"We dropped a little bit deeper and didn't really have the legs to get up the pitch and we were on the back foot a little bit.
"But for 80 minutes we went toe-to-toe with a top team and there are loads of positives for us to take.
"Southend are a very good side, and if you look at the quality they had coming off the bench, the athleticism they had off the bench and their five subs changed the game really.
"They took their front three off and brought three top quality players on in a like-for-like change.
"The first goal is disappointing because it's from our throw-in and we had control in the final third and they caught us on the counter-attack and we loooked stretched.
"The second is an own goal and these things happen, and we then looked leggy at the end.
"There are areas we can be better at, and we have to manage the game better, but there are plenty of positives."
Brackley have a busy week coming up, as they travel to 17th-placed Wealdstone on Tuesday and then host 15th-placed Altrincham on Saturday.