Alan Little promised a big summer shake-up in his playing personnel after his present Southend United side had cemented their place in the Football League with a 2-0 triumph at Barnet.

Second-half goals from left-wing-back Scott Houghton and midfielder Lee Hodges saw the Seasiders finally kill off any lingering relegation fears as they gained maximum reward from their first ever league visit to Underhill on Saturday.

However, Little admitted his side needs major surgery if it is to make any impression on the Third Division promotion race next term and wipe out the nightmare memories of this season's flirtation with the drop into the Conference League. "We were streets ahead of Barnet at times today as the boys worked hard for another good away victory, which has ensured our league survival," said the Shrimpers chief.

"But as far as I'm concerned that's all over now, we're safe and it's time to start getting on with the real job here, which is pushing Southend United back in the right direction.

"This club should never be in the position it is in, just look at the fans we had here today, I think we outnumbered the Barnet supporters, which underlines the potential at this club and makes a mockery of our struggles.

"I want to reward these fans for their loyalty and I will be spending my summer trying to build a side which will bring them success next season and get us out of this league."

However, Little admitted that he faces a massive task as he begins to overhaul his first-team squad over the next few months.

"There's a lot of quality in the present squad, but I feel it is very unbalanced and things need to be changed," he admitted.

"We've got too many players at this club and I need to trim the numbers down as well as bring in new faces who I feel can give us more strength in depth.

"Our biggest problem is having too many players on our books who play in the same positions, particularly in defence and attack, and some of these people will have to go.

"But it won't be an easy task, despite having a large number of contracts up for renewal, because we have a lot of players on long-term deals at Roots Hall and I might not be able to get as many out as I would like to.

"I've got a lot of hard thinking to do over the next few weeks, but now we're safe on the pitch I can start to concentrate my efforts into getting things right off it."

One player who is unlikely to figure in Little's plans is £300,000-rated West Ham loanee Hodges who capped another outstanding performance by cracking his first league goal at Barnet.

Going in - Southend's Neville Roach(right) challenges while Alex Burns looks on during the Shrimpers' 2-0 victory over Barnet

Picture: DAVE MONTIER

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.