SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown expects Lee Barnard to be back at the club at the end of the month.

Barnard, who is currently on loan at League Two side Stevenage, injured his ankle ligaments in Saturday’s 1-0 win against Exeter City.

But the 30-year-old former Mayflower School pupil should be fit to line up in his two final games for Stevenage before heading back to Roots Hall.

“As things stand at this moment in time, Barney will be coming back to us after he plays his final game of his loan spell on December 28,” said Brown.

“After that he becomes our player again and we did think he might be coming back earlier than expected when he got injured at the weekend.

“He’s injured his ankle ligaments which can be quite nasty but they’re confident he will be fit to play in their next game which is good news for us too.

“We want him to be sharp and hopefully he can get a couple more goals for them as well so his confidence is high again.”

Barnard has been with Stevenage since the end of October and he started well at Broadhall Way, scoring three goals in his first three games.

Since then he has gone five matches without hitting the back of the net.

But Brown still believes the loan spell has been of great significance for Barnard.

“For whatever reason, Barney wasn’t really getting in the team for us on a consistent basis and it was best for all parties if he went out on loan,” said the Shrimpers chief.

“He needed to go and get games which he’s done and I’m sure that will really have given him a boost.

“Hopefully we can get the advantages of that when he comes back in.”

Barnard has started just three games for Blues this season, with a further eight appearances coming from the bench.

He has also scored only one goal this term, a penalty at Accrington Stanley on the opening day of the campaign.