Witham Town boss Ken O'Donnell refused to feel too downbeat after watching his side crash to a comprehensive defeat against Southend United.

Witham were beaten 8-1 by the Shrimpers in their opening pre-season friendly of the summer in front of a crowd of more than 700 at the Spicer McColl Stadium, Spa Road on Saturday.

Yet despite the severity of his side's defeat, O'Donnell refused to be downbeat.

He said: "I'm not too disappointed - the boys have had a good workout but we were under no illusions about how hard it would be.

"It was a good workout for us.

"We were very pleased that Southend came down here to play us and we were pleased with the crowd that came to watch.

"We competed for 20 minutes but they were a bit smarter on the ball than us."

Witham chalked up a 4-1 win over Leiston last night in their latest friendly, with David Hawes and Olly Murs both scoring twice.

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