SOUTHEND United midfielder Josh Wright is facing a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Wright hobbled off against Shrewsbury Town at Roots Hall on Saturday.

And Blues boss Phil Brown has now received scan results which suggest Wright will be missing for at least a month.

“It’s not great news as the scan results have shown it’s a grade two tear of his hamstring,” said Brown.

“I’m always reluctant to put a timescale on these things, especially where Josh is concerned because he’s very professional in his approach.

“He’s similar to Michael Timlin and will do absolutely everything he can to get back fit as quickly as he can but I think it will be at least four weeks before he’s back and that’s frustrating news.

“Josh has become an integral part of the midfield and we didn’t have much luck with the injury either because I was literally about to take him off when it happened.”

Wright will now miss Saturday’s trip to Northampton Town and Brown also expects skipper Anton Ferdinand to be out of action. The experienced centre-back suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Shrewsbury.

And Brown believes Ferdinand will not recover in time to face the Cobblers.

“I don’t expect Anton to be fit for the Northampton game,” said Brown.

“His knee locked out during the Shrewsbury game and he’s still feeling it at the moment.”

Ferdinand has been replaced by John White at the heart of the Shrimpers’ back four. But White was also in the wars during the 2-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon on Monday.

“John had to have a couple of stitches in his foot after the Wimbledon game,” said Brown.

“We will see how he is in the next couple of days and then go from there.”