A strong and commanding left-footed central defender, local boy Adam Barrett joined the Blues during the summer of 2004 after spending the previous two seasons with Bristol Rovers.

He made his League debut for Plymouth in a 5-0 win over Scunthorpe in March 1999 after an early career that included a traineeship at Leyton Orient and a scholarship in the United States.

Barrett played over 50 games for the Pilgrims before moving to Mansfield for £10,000 in December 2000.

Since then Barrett has firmly established himself at his hometown Club and finished the 2004/05 campaign as the joint second-top scorer with eleven goals.

His importance to the Blues is shown by the fact he was a virtual ever present for Southend in League One and ended the 2005/06 campaign being named in the Team of the Season.

Barrett made his 100th league appearance for Southend last season at Burnley.

This season, Barrett his 300th career league appearance in Southend's 3-0 win against Gillingham.