INJURED Southend United striker Tom Hopper remains determined to rediscover his sparkling early season form - but knows it will take him time to get there.

Hopper - who scored seven goals in his first 13 starts for the Shrimpers - will miss the rest of the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury he suffered against Walsall in October.

But the 25-year-old striker is determined to become a regular goal-getter once again.

“I was so pleased with the way I had started and everything was going so well but now I’m working towards getting my way back to that and that’s the motivation,” said Hopper.

“We were doing well as a team too and that made everything even more frustrating.

“But I’m glad I had a start like that because I got to show in glimpses what I’m about and now I need to get back to that but I know it’s going to take time.”

Hopper had an operation on his knee shortly after suffering the injury setback. But the forward, who signed for Blues after being released by Scunthorpe United in the summer, knows he has to remain patient in his pursuit of full fitness.

“It’s progressing slowly but that’s to be expected,” said Hopper.

“It’s a slow injury to rehab and you have to give your body the time it needs to heal. Unfortunately, there’s a few of us going through it so we’re looking after each other and we’re trying to keep morale high whenever one of us is down because it’s a long journey we’re all on.

“We have long-term injuries so it’s going to be a long one but we’re attacking it all and having as much fun as we can too.”

Ben Coker, Sam Barratt and Lewis Gard have also suffered season-ending knee injuries while Jason Demetriou will be out until the end of January with his lay-off.

But Hopper suffered his own injury setback when slipping while attempting to close the ball down from kick-off and that adds to his frustration.

“There was no-one around me and it was quite innocuous,” said Hopper.

“That made it even more frustrating but it’s one of those things that happens. I tried running it off and I didn’t think there was too much of an issue but the scans showed the knee had seen better days.

“Originally I was told seven to nine months. It will all be done properly by Ben (Clarkson), the physio, the surgeon and the rest of the staff here.

“We’ll make sure everything is right and ready before I do return but it’s quite a way off at the moment.”