RYAN Cresswell has given Southend United a huge injury boost by insisting he expects to be fit for Saturday’s clash at Chesterfield.

The influential centre-back feared an extended spell on the sidelines after suspecting he had broken a bone in his shoulder during the 2-1 defeat at Brentford last Tuesday.

But a scan has now confirmed the defender has suffered only muscular damage.

And he is therefore prepared to play through the pain against the Spireites.

“I’ve told the manager I’ll just strap my shoulder up and will be fine to play at the weekend,” said Cresswell, 25.

“I haven’t trained with it yet or taken a whack on it, so I’ll have to wait and see how it responds to that.

“However, the way things are at the moment I feel confident of being able to play.

“And that’s good news because to begin with I was fearing it was broken and I would be out for four to six weeks or maybe even longer.”

Cresswell suffered the injury during the first half of Blues’ FA Cup third round replay at Griffin Park.

He was forced to come off just after the interval and was pleased to see Saturday’s home game against Plymouth Argyle called off because of a frozen pitch.

“I know some of the lads were disappointed the match was postponed because they wanted to play, but for me personally it was probably a blessing in disguise to be honest,” said Cresswell.

“I’m not sure if I would have been able to play and there were a few others who would have been doubtful too.

“Hopefully I’ll now be able to play in the game when it’s rescheduled and we can get a good result.”

FULL STORY IN TUESDAY'S ECHO