Southend will face-off against Doncaster Rovers in the play-offs following the conclusion of their 1-1 draw at home to Port Vale.

With Leeds grabbing a late win at home to Gillingham, the Blues slipped down a place in the League One table to sixth and will play a Doncaster side who lost out on the chance to secure automatic promotion at the expense of Nottingham Forest, after losing at Cheltenham.

Port Vale may have already been relegated from League One, but such disappointment did not dampen their enthusiasm to end their campaign on a high when they took a first half lead before James Walker eventually earned a point for the Blues with a late strike.

Vale were actually forced to play in Southend's red kit, after only turning up with a black kit that would have represented a big colour clash with the Blues' home shirt.

The first half was full of sporadic moments, with Southend unable to find their footing in attack, even though they did start the brighter of the two sides and should have taken an early lead.

Alex Revell crossed from the right for Gary Hooper to head the ball across goal where Franck Moussa was positioned just a few yards out, but the Belgium youngster contrived to shoot wide of the target.

Having threatened little, Port Vale still took the lead inside 24 minutes with David Mulligan taking aim from a free kick 20 yards out and curling the ball over both the wall and the outstretched dive of Darryl Flahavan into the top corner of the net.

There was a mild response from the Blues with Adam Barrett heading up and over from a corner before Revell met a similar fate when he tried his luck with a drilled effort from the edge of the box.

The opening 45 minutes ended with Marc Richards twice coming close to doubling the visitor's lead, having initially been foiled by Flahavan and then shooting the wrong side of the post from close range.

The second half was an even quieter affair, save for Southend drawing level six minutes from time through Walker.

An early run from Walker himself led the striker into the penalty box, but the chance was cut short as he was about to release the trigger, following a last ditch challenge.

Southend continually applied the pressure, but as befitted an end of season encounter with nothing to play for, the excitement levels were not quite the usual standard the fans have been accustomed to expect at Roots Hall in recent weeks.

Walker pulled the Blues level after Simon Francis' long range strike fell into his path inside the box and despite Joe Anyon saving his initial strike, the rebound cannoned back off his body and into the back of the net.

Southend ended the contest with a point in toe, but will now be looking to up the ante against Doncaster in the play-offs, with the first leg of their semi final clash at Roots Hall on Friday.

Southend: Flahavan, Francis, Clarke, Barrett, Mulgrew, Walker, McCormack (Bailey 46), Moussa, Robson-Kanu (Gower 61), Revell, Hooper (Barnard 66).

Port Vale: Anyon, Pilkington, Eckersley, Mulligan (O'Loughlin 62), Lowe (Davidson 20), Richman, Perry, Richards, Harsley, Prosser, Glover (Chapman 89).