CHRIS Powell insists he will not give up on guiding Southend United to safety.

Blues have now gone 11 games without a win following Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Peterborough United.

But the underfire Powell, whose side remain 20th in the League One standings, is determined to turn things around.

“I will never give up,” said the 49-year-old.

“We haven’t got the results we need and I will always carry on and do my best until someone tells me otherwise.”

The Shrimpers - who still sit just above the relegation zone on goal difference - rarely threatened against Posh and failed to register a single shot on target as their wretched run of results continued.

And Powell was also frustrated by the manner of Peterborough’s goals, with them both coming from free-kicks taken by Marcus Maddison.

“It’s disappointing to come away losing to the free-kicks,” said Powell.

“I thought we handled them pretty well.

“Mark Oxley made two great saves early on but Marcus Maddison has great quality.

“The first goal was outstanding and very hard to stop but for the second we haven’t reacted to the save.”

As a result, Blues have still not won since beating Bradford City 4-0 in mid-January and Powell also feels a lack of confidence is to blame.

“We’re low on confidence and we’re looking for a spark from somewhere,” said Powell.

“You’re bringing on young players and it’s very hard for us at the moment. We didn’t take care of the ball well enough in the first half and our quality from back to front wasn’t good enough.

“I wanted them to keep the ball better and we did that better in periods in the second-half.

“But you need an end product and that’s been sorely missing from us.”

And Powell is also keen to see more bravery from Blues.

“At times I felt we weren’t brave enough with or without the ball,” said the 49-year-old.

“The players always try but at the moment it’s not good enough for us. We need to find more, do more and by hook or by crook, somehow, we’re going to have to find it in these seven games, because if not we know what’s going to happen.”