SOUTHEND United centre-back Cian Bolger has been ruled out for a minimum of two weeks with a shoulder problem.

The defender was forced to come off midway through the second half of Wednesday night’s 0-0 draw at Doncaster Rovers.

And Blues boss Phil Brown will be closely monitoring Bolger’s fitness in the next fortnight.

“It’s a strange one because when you get shoulder injuries you have a decision to make,” said Brown.

“You can conservatively treat it for a couple of weeks or you can have an operation which can keep you out for three months.

“But at the moment Cian doesn’t need an operation and the next couple of weeks will be important to him.”

With Bolger sidelined, Brown now has just four available defenders in his squad.

The Shrimpers chief is therefore keen to bolster his options with a loan signing and is still waiting to hear back from two of his targets.

However, with Brown having now gone through the team shape for the weekend’s clash with Swindon Town, Luke Prosser looks certain to start against Robins.

“Luke Prosser will step into the breach which means one of him or Adam Barrett will be slightly out of position because they’re both left footed,” said Brown.

“But the bottom line is Luke just wants to play.

“I’ve got until 12 o’clock tomorrow to bring someone in but we’ve done our team shape work now and whoever does come in will be on the bench.”