TEAMtalk

Southend v Accrington preview

Friday 09-March-2012 15:16

Southend skipper Chris Barker will miss the visit of Accrington through suspension.

The centre-back was given his marching orders during Monday's goalless draw against promotion rivals Crawley and now serves a one-match ban.

Leading scorer Liam Dickinson suffered a broken ankle in the encounter and has this week been ruled out for the rest of the season, as has midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala who sustained a cruciate ligament injury against Morecambe late last month.

Midfielder Ryan Hall missed the Crawley clash due to illness but is set to be back in contention to face Stanley as Southend aim to extend their unbeaten run to three games.

Meanwhile, mercurial winger Bilel Mohsni continues to be unavailable for selection, with an announcement yet to be made over his future at Roots Hall.

Meanwhile, Accrington boss Paul Cook will once again contend with a lengthy injury list for the trip to Southend.

Midfielder Will Haining is pushing for a start having emerged from the bench to score last-gasp equalisers in the back-to-back draws with Port Vale and Bradford, but Cook is set to be without seven first-team regulars.

Right-back Danny Coid injured his ankle in the closing stages against Vale and is set to remain on the sidelines alongside on-loan Charlton striker Michael Smith, who suffered a knee injury in the warm-up for the same game.

Skipper Dean Winnard will be absent from the centre of defence as he continues to recover from an ankle injury, while veteran midfielder Michael Hughes (hamstring) is at least three weeks away from action.

Ian Craney (ankle), Sean Hessey (hamstring) and Ian Burton (hernia) are also in the treatment room.