Cian Bolger Loan Cancelled

Bolton Wanderers loanee Cian Bolger's temporary spell with Southend United has been cut short by an injury the centre-back suffered on his debut at York City on Saturday.

The Irishman was due to spend the next month with the Shrimpers after signing on loan from Bolton, but instead he has returned to his parent club having been ruled out of action for up to two months with an ankle injury.

And that has frustrated Blues boss Phil Brown who also had another loanee - right-back Luke O'Neill - injured on his debut for the club last month.

Brown said:

"You can certainly talk about us being unlucky as we've brought in two defenders and they've both got injured on their debuts for us,"

"Luke was ruled out for eight to 10 weeks with the thigh injury he picked up against Chesterfield and Cian could now be out for a similar length of time with the ankle problem he suffered at York.

"It's disappointing and a real shame because Cian did well on his debut before having to go off but we will have to battle on now."