SOUTHEND United duo Kazaiah Sterling and Emile Acquah made a surprising return to action at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The strikers, who had been expected to miss out due to coronavirus restrictions, played the final eight minutes of the 3-0 defeat.

And Blues boss Mark Molesley confirmed they could feature after completing their periods of self isolation. 

"They’ve finished their isolation and had their negative results back so they became available but unfortunately it fell on today (Saturday) so there was no preparation or training for them, "said Molesley.

"It’s been a disruptive week with the amount of players we’ve been missing but I’m sure when we get everyone available and have a full week’s training we will look in good shape.

"The general play has been good, it’s just in both boxes."