SOUTHEND United’s Ben Coker will discover the extent of his elbow injury tomorrow.

The left-back was forced off towards the end of Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Oxford United after landing awkwardly on his arm.

And Blues boss Phil Brown expects a second scan on Wednesday to reveal how long Coker will be out of action for.

“Ben has had one scan and will have another one on Wednesday which should tell us more and how long he will be out of action for,” said Brown.

“There’s no fracture which is good news but there is ligament damage and a torn tendon so it’s definitely not looking too clever for him.”

Coker is therefore expected to endure a spell on the sidelines and Brown feels the defender’s absence will be a big blow for his team.

“Ben had a fabulous season for us last year and had started the same way this season so it’s obviously disappointing news for us,” said Brown.

“We will find out more tomorrow though and hopefully he can be back in action sooner rather than later.”

Without Coker available, Brown has limited options available on the left hand side of his defence.

The Shrimpers chief could move John White to that side with David Worrall filling in at right-back or he could look to sign a replacement on loan.

“I will have a look to see what players are available on loan,” said Brown.

“Much will depend on how long Ben is going to be out for and then who we can find to bring in.

“If we find someone we think is suitable then of course we will look to make it happen.

“But if that’s not the case then we will reshuffle the players we already have at the club.”

However, midfielder Conor Clifford is not facing a spell on the sidelines.

The Irishman injured his ankle against Oxford and Brown initially feared he would be out of action for a least a month.

But Clifford could recover in time to take on Portsmouth this weekend.

“Conor is already back in light training and hopefully he won’t miss any matches at all,” added Brown.