SOUTHEND United manager Phil Brown has been boosted by news that injuries to both Ben Coker and Conor Clifford are not as bad as first feared.

Coker was forced off towards the end of Saturday's 1-1 draw against Oxford United with an elbow injury, while Clifford played through the pain with an ankle problem.

But Brown has revealed the duo will both be back in action sooner then originally expected.

“There's no fracture in Ben's elbow which is what we first feared,” said Brown.

“It's a soft tissue injury and he has his arm in a sling but we don't know how long he will be out for at this stage.

“He's still taking plenty of pain killers and we could well have to look at having to bring another left back in on loan.# “If not then John White will have to switch to left-back which he's comfortable doing and we'll have to play Dave Worrall at right-back.”

Further checks will be carried out on Coker today, along with Clifford.

But the swelling around his ankle has already started to die down.

“When I first saw Conor's ankle after the game I thought he was going to be out for at least a month,” said Brown.

“The swelling has already come down a lot though and we're going to have to wait and see how it settles down before finding out how just bad it is.”