SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown is hoping winger Michael Kightly will prove the medics wrong for a second time this season.

Initial scans on the hamstring injury Kightly suffered against Oldham Athletic on Saturday suggest he will spend up to two months on the sidelines.

But Brown has not ruled out the 31-year-old returning far sooner.

“It’s the same as last time Michael suffered a hamstring injury and hopefully he will be back far sooner than expected,” said Brown.

“There’s a disparity between the scan and the actual injury.

“They are saying six to eight weeks but Michael feels it will be a lot less than that and I’m hoping and praying he will be back in the first week of January.

"He’s a massive investment by the chairman and for him to be missing matches is not what we bargained for.

“But if we keep him fit from January until the end of the season we will have a great chance of doing well.”