SOUTHEND United manager Chris Powell will have injuries and illnesses to contend with when selecting his starting line-up against Bradford City tomorrow.

The Shrimpers boss will definitely be without Rob Kiernan (knee), Dru Yearwood (hamstring), Ted Smith (shoulder), Sam Barratt (knee) and Harry Lennon (toe) this weekend.

And Powell also has doubts concerning other members of his squad.

“When you play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday you get a few knocks and we have them,” said Powell.

“We have a bit of an illness in the camp too.

“It’s affected three of the lads so we’re wary of that. We’ve kept one away and two of the lads weren’t too great on Tuesday. It’s starting to get at us because we’re not the biggest squad.

“We’ve trained with the ones who are fit but from today we will know who is OK and who isn’t.”

However, Powell is hopeful midfielder Luke Hyam - who has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem - and striker Tom Hopper will both be fit to feature.

“Luke is back outside again now and hopefully he will be back in contention for tomorrow, which will help us,” said Powell.

“It’s a shame he’s missed the last two games but Tom trained yesterday and I’m sure he will be available for this weekend.”

Hopper’s return gives Powell a selection headache in attack with Simon Cox, Theo Robinson and Shawn McCoulsky also pushing for selection. And Powell is hoping those options will help the Shrimpers pick up their first win of the season.

“We’ve been unfortunate so far but we can’t keep saying that,” said the Blues boss.

“We have to turn these performances into wins and we need to do that sooner rather than later so our confidence can be there.

“Hopefully we’ll get into the winning groove on Saturday but if we don’t we won’t panic because eventually it will happen if we keep on doing the right things.”

And Powell will also be free to be on the touchline tomorrow despite being red carded at Plymouth Argyle last weekend.

“I’ll be OK for Saturday and for next Tuesday,” said Powell.

“My response has to go in by 6pm on Thursday and I won’t find out until next week.”