AFC Fylde boss Chris Beech felt his side were hindered by having to play twice in the space of three days.

Beech admitted Fylde were second best in their 2-0 defeat to Southend United on Saturday.

But he also thought the busy schedule played its part after they also played Gateshead on Thursday evening.

“We had everything on Thursday night,” Beech told the club's YouTube channel/

“We had rain, a soft pitch and everything that’s hard to play football in.

“We did really well but of course like a good night out there’s a hangover and this was probably a bit too soon for us to be at full tilt.

“Southend are very good.

“They’re a really good team and I think they’re now unbeaten in 15 games so we would have had to have been at our best and we weren’t.

“I think it was just too soon and, having just seen the results, it was the same for Gateshead.”

However, Beech was impressed by the Shrimpers’ display.

“They’re very good at getting the ball wide,” said Beech.

“If one of you’re players drops off, like we did and you don’t track, it provides them with a crossing opportunity.

“It happened for both of their goals.

“They’re very similar just with the crosses coming from different sides of the pitch.

“It’s well done to them and we couldn’t handle it.”