WEST Ham United’s Reece Oxford is one of three young defenders being tracked by Southend United, Echosport can reveal.

The 17-year-old, who can also play in midfield, is one of a trio of targets for boss Phil Brown.

But the Shrimpers manager is not too concerned about completing the deal before the transfer window shuts later today.

“If a deal gets done today then great but there’s no rush when it comes to loan signings,” said Brown.

“The window re-opens again in a week for loans to be made and if we wait 14 days then any loan signings we make would be able to play in the play-offs if we get there.

“The clubs in question know of our interest in the players and it’s up to them now to decide whether or not a loan deal is what they think is best for one of their young players.

“There’s not much more we can do at this stage.”

Oxford is definitely one of Blues’ targets though after his proposed loan switch to Charlton Athletic fell through.

The youngster has appeared eight times for the Hammers this term and was on the bench for their FA Cup clash at Liverpool on Saturday.

But Brown is now interested in bringing him to Roots Hall to complete what he believes has been an excellent few weeks in the transfer market.

“We’ve seen Glen Rea, Joe Pigott, Luke Prosser, Jason Williams, Jack Bridge and Harry Kyprianou go out but we’ve brought in some excellent replacements,” said Brown.

“We’ve signed Tyrone Barnett, Stephen Hendrie, Glen Kamara, Sam McQueen and Jamar Loza so we’ve definitely improved.”

And Brown does not envisage being involved in too many transfers today.

“You can never say never of course because things can change quickly in football but as it stands I can’t see much happening with us,” said Brown.

“There has been interest in David Worrall, Kevan Hurst and Adam Thompson but that’s died down a bit now.”