FREDDY Eastwood said it was a dream come true to line up alongside his son at Roots Hall.

Shrimpers legend Freddy partnered his son, who is also named Freddy, for the final 20 minutes in the Sid Broomfield Trophy against Colchester United on Monday night.

And Freddy loved every second of their spell together.

“To be honest I couldn’t dream of anything better, especially with it being in a Southend United shirt at Roots Hall,” said Freddy, who scored 25 goals during Blues’ League One title-winning season back in 2006.

“I had him when I was quite young and he watched me a lot when I was at Southend but to have the chance to play alongside him like that for the first time was brilliant.

“But I really enjoyed the whole evening. It was a great night and I hadn’t seen a lot of the lads for quite some time so it was brilliant to catch up with everyone.

“It was really well supported and I loved being able to play a part.

“I thought we did quite well for a load of old fatties too!”

Colchester won the game 6-3 but Freddy will now turn his attention towards watching his 17-year-old son, who is in Blues’ youth team, keep progressing.

“He looks like he could have a future in the game but he knows he has to keep his head down and keep working hard,” said Freddy.

“It would be great if we could swap roles and I could come and watch him playing for Southend and helping the club get more success like we all did with this group of players.”