FOUR players will still be missing when Southend United head to Oldham Athletic this weekend.

Left-back Sam Hart, winger Terrell Egbri and midfielders James Olayinka and Jacob Mellis all trained today.

But Blues boss Mark Molesley will not name them in his squad for the match at Boundary Park.

“Those four we’ve just enjoyed a good training session with and they’re certainly on the way back but all of them need to do a little bit more work physically and in their rehab too to give them more strength,” said Molesley.

“But if they carry on the way they did today they will soon be pushing to be involved.”

Olayinka has been missing since suffering an ankle injury against Grimsby Town in January while Mellis has yet to feature since signing from Gillingham on deadline day.

But the duo are now both close to being called upon by Molesley.

“Jacob is very close now and James just needs to tick a few more boxes,” said Molesley.

“Tomorrow will be his fifth training session and that’s probably not enough to come back in but he’s very close.

“Jacob has recovered well from illness and he’s probably one of the closer ones.”

And Molesley continues to monitor both Hart, who has missed the last three games with a groin problem and Egbri who has yet to play in 2021 due to a hamstring injury.

“Sam trained for the first time since his injury today and Terrell is still on a strength programme to realign his hamstring strength,” said Molesley.

“But we can’t go too early with Terrell and risk another injury.”

However, Blues are hoping to organise a match for all four of the returning players to work on their fitness.

“If they’re not back Saturday then maybe it will be Tuesday but we will probably try and get a game on for all of them to play in,” said Molesley.

“But fitting the game in during a busy calendar has been difficult.”