Junior Eccleston is back and available for selection, having served the final match of his three-game ban on Boxing Day.
The 18-year old saw red after a controversial refereeing decision in Sutton’s Emirates FA Cup Second Round defeat against Shrewsbury Town, having got into a tangle with Chuks Aneke, with the referee somehow deeming him to have caught the Salop man with his elbow despite both players taking a tumble in their respective attempts to win a header from a throw-in.
Eccleston has since been absent for the U’s defeats to Walton & Hersham and Solihull Moors, along with their draw with Aldershot Town last time out, but is now back in contention and in line to go straight back to the team.
This will prove to be a big boost to Chris Agutter, with the Head Coach having to contend with something of an injury crisis that saw him field a handful of players while injured on Friday afternoon, and he will have to deal with a similar situation on Tuesday night – probably worse now in his words – after illness began to spread in the camp as well.
“We go into Southend light and with our backs against the wall in terms of team selection.”
“It’s a challenge that we certainly won’t embrace; we’d much rather go there fully loaded and with the side that helped us climb out of the relegation zone, but equally it’s a challenge that we won’t walk away from, and we’ll meet head on and try and delivery our best level and try and get through the game with more points on the board.”
– Chris Agutter
Edon Pruti will serve the second of his three-match suspension, having been sent for an early bath at Solihull, but as previously reported will remain out of action for the foreseeable future as he navigates the early stages of his recovery from a fractured wrist.
Hayden Muller (ankle), Jack Taylor (leg), Brandon Njoku (knee) and David Ogbonna (hamstring) meanwhile all featured while injured on Friday, and thus their status within the squad for Tuesday night’s trip to Southend remain in the balance.
Muller picked up a suspected ankle strain against Solihull, limping off at the ARMCO Arena and is supposed to be out for up to six to eight weeks, while Taylor was an unused substitute before soldiering on against Aldershot despite needing to come off with a dead leg, along with Njoku who made his first appearance in a month after a knee problem, last featuring in the National League Cup win over Southampton.
The treatment room therefore continues to increase, with Ashley Nadesan (knee), Alex Kirk (back), Alex Woodyard (knee), Jack Wadham (knee) and Liam Vincent (ankle) already, while Jake Taylor has also become the latest player on the sidelines after an enforced swap saw him replaced by Charlie Bell on Friday.
The former Eastleigh man is looking at potentially a few weeks out – depending on a fitness test – with a hamstring problem, having joined the club originally with a reoccurring issue that has so far been nursed during his brief time at Gander Green Lane so far, before flaring up again on Friday.
