NILE Ranger is in line to make his Southend United debut at Port Vale on Saturday.

The summer signing has missed the first two games of the season with a groin problem.

But the 25-year-old is now pushing to be involved at Vale Park.

“Nile is working hard and he’s in with a real sniff of being fit for Saturday’s game at Port Vale now,” said Brown.

“We need to monitor him carefully because his pre-season has been disrupted by injury and he hasn’t played an awful lot before that.

“But we want Nile to be a big player and we need him to be out on the pitch.

“Hopefully he can have a similar impact to the one Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has had for Gillingham.”

Ranger’s last competitive appearance came for Blackpool in November 2014.