Southend United boss Phil Brown is hoping that a four-day break in Portugal will boost the club's chances of securing promotion from League Two this season.

The Shrimpers, who currently sit seventh in the table, flew out to Portugal on Sunday morning, with the squad expected to return on Wednesday.

Brown told the club's official website: "The main reason for this trip was to be able to get outside in good weather and train on the grass, which has been difficult recently.

"We had a really good hour-and-a-half training session on Monday morning and all the players worked extremely hard.

"When we first arrived the weather wasn't as we'd hoped, but we had a day in the gym having played on Saturday and spent some time in the pool doing recovery work. All the players know we are here to work hard and they've certainly shown that in the first couple of days."

The Essex outfit are four points off an automatic promotion spot.