Southend United's Marc Laird aiming to give Exeter City the needle! (From Echo)

Southend United's Marc Laird aiming to give Exeter City the needle!

1:00pm Friday 11th January 2013 in Sport By Chris Phillips

SOUTHEND United midfielder Marc Laird is hoping to give Exeter City the needle at St James’ Park this weekend.

The Scotsman, who is expected to replace Anthony Straker in the side, has been given stitches to a mouth wound in his last two matches.

And he is keen to avoid a repeat against the Grecians.

“I couldn’t believe it when the ball smacked me in the face against Brentford and it knocked out the cap I had just had fitted on my tooth,” said Laird.

“The player just in front of me ducked out of the way at the last minute and having to go and have more stitches wasn’t the most pleasurable of experiences.

“But I’m having another cap fitted on my tooth really soon and hopefully that will help me get my model looks back again that Neil Harris keeps on mentioning in his Echo column.”

Laird was cup tied for Tuesday night’s Johnstone Paint Trophy’s clash at Oxford United on Tuesday night.

But he hopes to help Blues embark on an unbeaten run on his return to the team.

“We haven’t lost in our last two matches and want to keep that going,” said Laird.

“Exeter are a good team so it’s going to be tough but it’s an important game and we want the three points.”