NILE Ranger is expected to return to training with Southend United this week.

The controversial striker has been in prison since late May after pleading guilty to online banking fraud.

But Blues chairman Ron Martin has confirmed Ranger should be back at the club in the next few days and has warned the 25-year-old to focus purely on his football.

“We anticipate Nile will be released this week and will be coming back in to the training ground but we need to see him fully focused,” said Martin.

“There can be no distractions for him because we have a very tight knit group of players who are in this together and we will be monitoring Nile closely to ensure his continuing commitment.

“This is a massive season for the club and everybody must be on the same page.

“There will be no room for bystanders.”

Ranger’s last match came away at Shrewsbury Town in late April.

And he will undergo an intense training schedule on his return to the Shrimpers.

“The day Nile comes back in he will begin an intensive one-on-one training schedule which will last for seven to 10 days before he is reintroduced to the group,” said Martin.

“Nile’s availability for selection will depend entirely upon his ability to get up to speed with his match fitness.”

Ranger, who has been dogged by off-field problems throughout his career, joined Blues last summer and scored eight goals in 28 games.

The forward missed four games in January following a serious breach of club discipline but was eventually kept on by the Shrimpers, who then suffered a further blow when he was jailed in May.

Ranger was sentenced to eight months for conspiracy to defraud by obtaining bank details and transferring money after Wood Green Crown Court heard a woman lost more than £2,000 in the scam.

But the former Newcastle United frontman - who faces competition from Simon Cox, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Theo Robinson for a place in the starting line-up - will now be hoping just his football hits the headlines.

However, Blues boss Phil Brown is not sure what shape the striker will be in.

“We will only know once we’ve tested him,” said Brown.

“I’ve been told he had access to the gym for the first three weeks but he’s not had anything since then and has been in his cell 23 hours a day.”