IF Eastleigh winger Damian Scannell's impending move to Southend United proves anything like as successful as Freddie Eastwood's then the Blue Square South club will be quids in to the tune of £375,000.

While a clause in Scannell's contract dictates that the Spitfires are duty-bound to accept the Shrimpers' £5,000 offer for the 22-year-old south Londoner, Eastleigh have negotiated a sizeable 25 per cent sell-on clause with the Coca-Cola League One outfit.

"We've had people on our messageboard accusing us of being naive, but they need to retrace the steps of how we got Damian in the first place," said Eastleigh director/co-assistant manager Paul Doswell.

"Fisher Athletic failed to take up the option on his contract last season, enabling us to get him for nothing in the summer. I sold the club and our ambition to him and when Damian came down with his agent they put in front of us what we needed to do to get him.

"People question why we had the clause in his contract and the answer's simple: We wouldn't have got the player without it.

"We're not naive at all. In fact I'd say it's pretty sharp business by us. Although the £5,000 fee probably only covers what we've had to pay for him, we've had five months of watching the kid play and we've gained a really good sell-on clause."

Pointing to the example of former Grays Athletic striker Freddy Eastwood, who was sold on by Southend to Wolves for £1.5m, Doswell said: "If that happened with Damian, Eastleigh would get £375,000, in which case the legacy he leaves us would be unbelievable."

For full story see today's Daily Echo.