Southend United hand professional contracts to trio

Southend United boss Phil Brown has handed Mitchell Pinnock, Seedy Njie and Ryan Auger professional contracts at the League Two outfit.

Pinnock and Nije both made their first-team debuts for the club this season, while Auger has been tipped as a star of the future.

Head of youth Ricky Duncan told Echo News: "It's fantastic. Since Phil Brown came in he's been to a number of our games, and that's a big boost for all the players to have the first-team manager watching.

"It's fantastic for everyone involved in the youth set-up that they've been given this chance."

Southend currently sit 11th in the League Two table.