SOUTHEND United goalkeeper Mark Oxley suffered another elbow problem on his return to action at Dagenham & Redbridge this afternoon.

The Shrimpers shot-stopper was making his first appearance since suffering the initial injury just before Christmas.

But Blues boss Phil Brown will not know the seriousness of the setback until Oxley has another scan and visits a specialist.

“Mark was due to play an hour in the game and felt something in his elbow in the 59th minute,” said Brown.

“As soon as he felt something he went off to stop it getting any worse but we don’t know too much else about it at the moment.

“I’m not going to jump the gun in determining the extent of the injury because the truth is we don’t know how bad it is right now.

“It’s the same arm as before but hopefully he’ll have a scan tomorrow and will see a specialist later in the week which will obviously tell us much more.”

Oxley missed six Shrimpers games before being back on the bench for Saturday’s 3-1 win against Scunthorpe United.

The 26-year-old has been replaced between the sticks by Ted Smith who is now enjoying his longest run yet in the starting line-up.

Josh Bexon, who replaced Oxley at Victoria Road, could now act as Smith’s understudy if Oxley is forced back onto the sidelines.

Echo:

Back in business - Ryan Inniss

But Brown was lifted by the return of Ryan Inniss, who played the full 90 minutes against Dagenham on his return from the dislocated shoulder he suffered against Millwall in early November.

“Ryan playing the full game is a massive positive for us,” said the Blues boss.

“He wasn’t supposed to play 90 minutes but he’s like Robocop and wanted to carry on.

“Adam Barrett, John White, Jermaine McGlashan, Luke O’Neill, Zavon Hines and Frank Nouble also played 90 minutes so it’s been a good exercise.”

But Blues coach Kevin Maher felt both teams cancelled each other out in a 0-0 draw.

“There weren’t many chances for either team,” said Maher.

“It was two strong sides but we probably cancelled each other out.”

Blues: Oxley (Bexon), White, Inniss, Barrett, Coutts (Cotton), Bedford (Phillips), O’Neill, McGlashan, Bridge (Wabo), Hines, Nouble