Aldershot Town manager Tommy Widdrington viewed his side’s 0-0 draw against Southend United as a point gained.

The match was short of clear-cut chances, and the Shots boss was happy to take a point from the National League encounter.

“Southend are one of the better sides we've played this season,” said Widdrington. “They've had a very similar opening 15 games to what we have. We both feel we should have more points.

“There's not many teams we've played that I've felt are on a par with the football we try to play so credit to Kevin Maher and his staff and players. They've come and they've had a right go at it.

“I felt we should have been in front very early in the game. We missed a really good opportunity – the only glaring opportunity for either side. All in all, over the 90-odd minutes I'm pleased with a point.

“You have to do all sorts of things to win football matches or get something out of football matches. We've got to take pleasure in the way we defended our box in both halves.

“We had spells of pressure and they had spells of pressure. When they did we restricted them to crossing the ball into our box, which we defended well, or shots from distance which we blocked well.

“Both goalkeepers haven't had a massive amount to do. I think it was a bit like a chess match. I didn't think it was a boring 0-0 draw.

“We know what we are we and what we're trying to do. Southend were trying to do very similar things to us so we cancelled each other out.

“I'm pleased with the way we stuck at the task. Clean sheets have been rare for us. We've had to make changes in the backline and the lads we've brought into the team are a little bit more robust.

“You've got to give credit to my backline and goalkeeper. If we don't score I don't just look at the strikers, it's the foundation we build from that hasn't been quite good enough to give the strikers enough chances at goal.

“We've been able to defend the box the way we have because our strikers and midfield men have grafted their tails off to put pressure on Southend when they entered our final third. We were up against a very good side.”

The National League table is tightly condensed after the first third of the season, and Widdrington feels it may remain that way.

“I think it's a tougher league this year,” said Widdrington. “Last year you had one or two standout teams – I don't think you can say that this year.

“There's some good sides and some have had better starts than others. The points have been distributed a lot more evenly so I don't think it will be as big a total to win the league or get in the play-offs this season. We've got to keep adding to the total we've got.”