SOUTHEND United will discover the extent of Luke O’Neill’s thigh injury when the on loan Burnley right-back has a scan tomorrow.

O’Neill, who is with the Shrimpers for an initial month, impressed on his debut against Chesterfield on Saturday and delivered a stunning pass in the build up to Kevan Hurst’s opening goal.

But he was then forced to limp off just before half-time after suffering a thigh injury.

And Blues boss Phil Brown will be nervously waiting for the results of the scan.

“Luke will have a scan on the injury on Wednesday and we will know more about how serious it is then,” said Brown.

“His pass in the build up to the goal was fantastic but the next pass he made after that he injured his thigh.

“It tightened up and meant he had to come off but we’re just hoping we substituted him in time before he made it even worse.”

O’Neill was brought to the club to replace the Shrimpers’ first choice right-back John White after he was sidelined with a dislocated shoulder he suffered during the 4-1 win against Millwall in the FA Cup.

If O’Neill is also ruled out this weekend’s fourth round tie with Hull City then Blues could well have to line up with Adam Thompson, who is naturally a centre-back, on the right hand side of the defence.

Ryan Leonard filled in there for the 1-1 draw at Plymouth Argyle but he remains far more influential in his normal midfield role.