SOUTHEND United’s Lewis Gard insists he is staying positive despite being sidelined by a serious knee injury.

Gard will not play again this season after damaging three of his knee ligaments during the Checkatrade Trophy clash with Colchester United earlier this month.

But Gard - who has now undergone surgery - is doing all he can to remain upbeat.

“I’ve been to see the specialist a couple of times now and the news has been as good as we could have hoped for,” said the 19-year-old midfielder.

“I’ve torn two of my ligaments, including my cruciate, but the third one is only slightly damaged.

“Of course it’s frustrating and annoying because the under-23 season was only really just getting going and I was looking forward to the games we had coming up.

“I wanted to try and push for more chances in the first team but I just have to try and not lose my head and do everything I can to get back as quickly as possible.”

Gard suffered the injury just a few minutes after entering the action as a substitute against the U’s.

But he remembers very little about the incident.

“All I can remember is that my whole leg went numb,” said the youngster.

“I remember Ben (Clarkson) coming on and a couple of the players being there but very little else.

“After the game I had gas and air so I wasn’t in any pain at all and it wasn’t until I got home that I was really in pain.

“But I’ve watched it back since then and it doesn’t make for pleasant viewing.”

However, Gard - who has made four substitute appearances for the first team - has already been boosted by those around him, especially his Shrimpers team-mate Sam Barratt.

“My friends and family have been great, along with everyone at the club including Sam, who has been great,” said Gard.

“Sam has a similar injury to me but he’s two months ahead of me in his rehab so he knows exactly what I’m going through which has already helped.

“I also had a lot of messages on social media which was good as well so I would like to thank everyone who got in touch.”

But Gard is keen to be back in business next season.

“The specialist didn’t want to talk about timescales but I want to try and be back as close as possible to the start of next season,” said Gard.

“Then it’s all about kicking on from there and making sure I come back strongly.”