SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley felt the Shrimpers were ‘not in a position’ to offer Joel Lynch a contract.

The experienced defender, who had been training with Blues, is now training with Bolton Wanderers.

But Molesley thought Lynch was not quite ready to return to action after suffering an injury.

“Joel Lynch is no stranger and he was in training with us,” confirmed Molesley.

“He sustained a little bit of an injury and he wasn’t ready right away for us so we weren’t in a position to do anything with him.

“With him being a free agent and a good player he’s going to be wanted by a whole host of teams.

“He wasn’t ready to do anything with us yet and if he ends up at another team that’s out of our control.

“We need people who are ready to put on the shirt and fight for us right this second.”

Lynch has lined up for Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, QPR during his career which has seen him make more than 420 appearances.