Steve Hammell will today discover the extent of the groin injury he suffered at Stoke.

But Blues assistant manager Paul Brush fears the full back will be out for at least a month.

The Scottish left-back seemed to be in agony when he was stretchered off after just 21 minutes at the Britannia Stadium.

"Steve is certainly not a softie and the way he went down wasn't good at all," said former Southend defender Brush.

"Steve is going to see a specialist today and that will tell us more about the injury.

"But it doesn't look good and I think he will be out for at least a month, which is a blow because he's been playing very well for us lately."

Hammell - along with goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan - is an ever present in the Shrimpers' starting line-up this season and is the only recognised left back in the squad.

Lewis Hunt filled in for the former Motherwell defender following his departure at Stoke, while Adam Barrett also appeared in that position for a spell last season.

But another option could be to recall Che Wilson from his loan spell at Brentford.

"We can't bring Che back during his first month of the deal," confirmed Brush.

"He's up in a couple of weeks so that is something to think about, but we're also going through a list of possible players we could bring in on loan."

But there is better news surrounding midfielder Alan McCormack, who is expected to recover from his thigh injury in time to face QPR at Roots Hall this Friday.

"We are hoping that Alan will be fit and he's making good progress," added Brush.