SOUTHEND United manager Chris Powell will be calling upon more of the club’s youngsters at Accrington Stanley tomorrow.

Powell could be missing as many as 14 first team players for the clash at the Crown Ground.

And that could see the Shrimpers chief calling up more members of the under-23 squad.

“More youngsters will be involved,” said Powell.

“There’s no more senior players so we’ll be calling on the youngsters and I’m not afraid to do that.

“Ideally you would like more of a balance because the youngsters will end up going through things they haven’t faced before.

“It’s a lot different to youth and under-23 football but you just have to tell them to go and do what they do best.

“You want them to play with freedom and show what they’re about because I’m all for that.

“Sometimes it will work but sometimes it won’t.

“I have to balance that but Accrington is a testing place for all players and we’ll need everyone to be ready for that.”

Tom Clifford, Renei Batlokwa, Rob Howard and Harry Phillips are among those pushing for call-ups.

But Powell must first wait to discover which senior players will be passed fit.

“I’ll have to balance it up with who we need and what we need,” said the Blues boss.

“I’ll have to see how one or two are first and there are one or two we need to give an extra day to before seeing if they are available.”

However, Powell does not expect Michael Kightly to be fit enough to feature.

The winger picked up a groin problem in Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Portsmouth.

And Powell fears he will not recover in time to face Stanley.

“It’s more than likely Michael Kightly won’t be involved,” said Powell.

“It’s also highly unlikely John White will be involved so we’ll be thin on the ground but we just have to get on with it.”

Winger Harry Bunn and midfielder Luke Hyam are also not yet ready to return despite being back in training.

And right-back Jason Demetriou remains sidelines with a knee problem.

“I’ve seen Jason doing some work,” said Powell.

“He’s at 50 to 60 per cent and is nowhere near ready to twist and turn yet or join in with us.”

Goalkeeper Mark Oxley will again miss out with a back problem while midfielder Dru Yearwood will serve the last game of his three match suspension for the red card he received at Charlton Athletic.