SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley will carefully consider his starting line-up for tonight’s EFL Trophy tie with Portsmouth.

Blues must avoid defeat to keep alive their hopes of advancing past the group stages of the competition.

But, with this evening’s encounter being the first of seven games in the space of just 24 days, Molesley will not be taking any risks.

“We’ve got to be careful,” said Molesley.

“We’ve got some minutes into Harry (Lennon) now but we will have to assess everyone and see just how we can put our best foot forward for the game.

”We have to protect the players coming back but it’s difficult for us because we’re so stretched at the moment.

“We’ve got to get the best from the players and we have to keep building but we can’t afford to take any risks.”

Blues were beaten 3-1 by West Ham United’s under 21 side in their opening game of the competition and another defeat would see them eliminated at the first hurdle.

Molesley is unlikely to risk centre-back Lennon - who put off an operation on his calf to play at Crawley Town on Saturday - this evening while Jason Demetriou is also unlikely to feature as he continues to manage an ongoing issue with his knee.

Right-back Elvis Bwomono misses out after being called up by Uganda while midfielder Alan McCormack (calf), winger Jordan Green (ankle),centre-back John White (hamstring) and striker Simeon Akinola (thigh) are also expected to be unavailable.

Timothee Dieng, Lewis Gard and new signing Ashley Nathaniel-George are among those pushing to be involved while Molesley must also decide whether or not to recall Charlie Kelman after leaving him out of the squad on Saturday.