SOUTHEND United midfielder Anthony Wordsworth has delayed having an operation on his hamstring.

Wordsworth – who has been out of action since March – was due to be operated on earlier this week.

But Blues boss Phil Brown has revealed the 27-year-old has instead had another injection in a bid to avoid surgery.

“Woody went to see the surgeon but they’ve given him another injection now and have to wait a week to see how it settles down,” said Brown.

“If there are no improvements then Woody will have the operation which will keep him out for around six weeks and it’s obviously a huge frustration for all of us.

“The chairman is frustrated one of our main players is missing, I’m frustrated to be missing his goals from midfield and obviously Woody is frustrated about it as well.

“We are in talks with other targets and things are moving on a little bit with one of them.

“But it’s not beyond reason we could make four signings next week.

“One of them is a goalscoring midfielder but that would mean investing in the squad.”