SOUTHEND United left-back Ben Coker is facing six months on the sidelines after an operation on his broken leg.

The 28-year-old underwent surgery yesterday after suffering the injury in a pre-season friendly at Colchester United on Monday.

But Blues boss Phil Brown does not expect Coker to be back until 2018.

“We’re looking at six months out for Ben and there’s no denying the fact it’s awful news for him and us all,” said Brown.

“We all know how good Ben is but he’s also a great lad to have around the place.

“Literally two minutes before the injury happened we had a counter attack and he was having a race with Stephen McLaughlin.

“He was buzzing to be back from the thigh problem and had a great chance of starting against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.

“He was due to play for an hour against Colchester and got the injury five minutes before he would have come off.

“These things happen for a reason but I can’t work out what that is at the moment.

“But the most important thing is that we all rally round Ben and his family following the operation, which saw him have his leg pinned, and that’s exactly what we will do.”

And Coker - who missed the last six games of the previous season with a knee problem - also took to Twitter to thank those who had sent him their support.

He tweeted: “Thank you for all the messages of support. I am devastated but I will come back stronger.”

With Coker out of action, summer signing Stephen Hendrie now looks set to start at left-back against Blackburn.

Hendrie endured a miserable loan spell with Rovers last season and Brown believes the Scotsman will be desperate to impress.

“We’re all gutted for Ben but Stephen will feel he has a real point to prove at the weekend,” said Brown.

“It’s funny how football brings up these kinds of situations and that his first game for us will be against his old team.

“The manager has changed since his time there but the owners are still the same so he will be desperate to play well and turn this negative we’re all feeling into something positive. I think Stephen has had a great pre-season after so long without regular football.”

Hendrie made just four league appearances while with Blackburn last season.